


Love Me Like XO, Kill Me Like XO

by FriendlyNeighbourhoodLesbian



Category: LeeGaa - Fandom, Naruto
Genre: College, Eventual Smut, Everyone Is Gay, FTM Shira, Fluff, LeeGaa, M/M, Modern AU, Multi, University, bisexual naruto, gaara and naruto are besties, gaara is a punk, gaara later becomes a celebrity??, lee is a martial arts enthusiast, mentions of physical abuse, mentions of previous leeneji, rasa is an asshole, rich gaara, seme!lee, slight sasugaa later on, uke!gaara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2018-09-25 15:13:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9826025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendlyNeighbourhoodLesbian/pseuds/FriendlyNeighbourhoodLesbian
Summary: Growing up under the strict gaze of a discourteous politician, Sabaku no Gaara is taught by his family to be powerful but by his friends to open. Seasons pass and Gaara discovers more about himself than his father would ever allow him: a new interest in eyeliner and rock music is enough to make the patriarch of his household squirm- but letting Rock Lee hold his hand on the way to class will get the redhead in severe trouble.{Modern AU, set after the events of Kankuro and Kiba's relationship in "Black Sheep, Come Home" by milky_shimaa <3}





	1. Week One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thislovelylife](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thislovelylife/gifts).



> When I first published this on Wattpad, I dedicated it to milky_shimaa for inspiring me to write my first LeeGaa fanfiction. They have now blessed me in return with a KanKiba set in the same AU as this one, so a massive thank you to them for all their support and love <3
> 
> Set in Konoha University for the Gifted and Knowledgeable - a college for either the incredibly rich or the incredibly talented.
> 
> Minato Namikaze is the mayor of this prosperous city and is very, very successful. His rival is Sabaku no Rasa: he runs and leads a neighbouring city, Suna, with an iron fist. His son, Gaara, aspires to take over his father's position when he grows older in order to relieve the tension between the two cities and focus more on equality and community cohesion, which his father never thought useful. Gaara came to study politics at the university to give himself a head start.
> 
> Lee is nowhere near as rich as the other students, and gained access to the college's teachings with a scholarship for martial arts rather than a million-dollar cheque. He and Gaara are very different- but at the same time, strangely similar.

"So how's it going over there?"

Gaara was seated, legs crossed, on a long, leather sofa. Scarlet hair stood up at odd angles, aqua eyes stared down at the screen of his laptop; his brother blinked back at him.

"It's going fine. I was shown around, I've had a few classes," Gaara shrugged, "it was normal."

"No parties yet?"

"I haven't been here very long."

"Damn. There was a party the first night I started university." Kankuro wandered, shirtless, in front of the webcam, his face buried in a makeup wipe. Gaara squinted at the pixelated image on his computer screen, raising his eyebrows at the blur of violet face paint that decorated his brother's cheeks and forehead.

"You missed a spot." He remarked.

"Bah."

Gaara rested his chin in his palm, releasing a small sigh, and glared at his brother with eyes that demanded for him to put a shirt on, for God's sake. Kankuro stuck his tongue out at him, and Gaara remained defeated. "I'm done talking about school, okay? The only difference between high school and university is the drinking."

"I think there's a lot of difference." His brother shrugged, "You find out a lot about yourself at university."

"I'm not going to spend all of my study time pondering my sexuality, Kankuro."

"I'm just sayin', little bro, there's not a lot of straight guys out there who have a search history that overflows with Beyonce."

"She's a work of art."

A clock ticked on the cream walls of Gaara's bedroom: a four-poster bed with maroon pillow cases and a black duvet cover was placed up against the wall; bookshelves were pushed next to eachother in one long line, with novels and research papers arranged in alphabetical order; a leather sofa with a clear coffee table and a flatscreen television filled the far corner. A grand piano took up most of the space.

"Mm-hm." The brown-haired man shook his head and chuckled, "You'd better watch yourself. If you end up at a party and have half a shot of tequila, your sexuality is gonna come up in your mind a lot. Take me, for example-"

Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kankuro, I don't care." He said, but his brother continued anyway.

"Week one of university. First day, had a party, got way too drunk. Second day, woke up next to a tan guy with the most glorious abs I've ever seen-"

"-Kiba's honestly not as attractive as you think he is."

"Your opinion is invalid, young one. On the third day, I lay in bed and skipped class, crying over the fact that I thought I was straight and yet I let another guy eat whipped-cream off of me."

"Ew."

"You do weird things when you're drunk, okay? If you don't judge me, I won't judge you when it happens in the future. Fourth day, Mister Gorgeous Muscle-Man appeared at the door-" 

There were footsteps outside of Gaara's bedroom door, and in a desperate instant, he muted the laptop and minimized the Skype window. He narrowed his eyes. Remaining completely silent, the footsteps came closer and the redhead was able to distinguish the sound as his older sister coming upstairs. He exhaled with relief. Pulling the videocall up again, he noticed that Kankuro was still continuing his story.

"-and then we argued because I couldn't figure out if I regretted our intoxicated whipped-cream sex or not. Fifth day, what a surprise, woke up next to him again. We both skip class and spend the day cuddling and talking, and I pretty much fall in love with him. And then comes day six."

"Dad hears you two having whipped-cream intercourse and becomes infuriated." Gaara was pretending he'd been listening all along. It didn't matter, though; his brother knew fully well that he had little interest in his college affairs.

"Exactly. And then day seven, I'm kicked out the house, and now I'm a tattoo artist living in a box-sized flat in the middle of a city full of assholes. But y'know what, I still have Mister Gorgeous Muscle-Man."

Gaara rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to a moving figure in the background of Kankuro's room; his brother's boyfriend lay sprawled out on the bed, mumbling something about feeding Akamaru. The fluffy Samoyed puppy was cuddled up on Kankuro's lap and the brown-haired man tickled his ears affectionately- although he'd told everyone that he had a strong dislike for dogs, Akamaru seemed to be an exception. "I don't understand your point, Kankuro." Gaara narrowed his eyes at the string of saliva that hung from Akamaru's mouth. Kankuro cleaned it off with his makeup wipe.

"Look, things really change after high school. Popularity doesn't mean anything. You're allowed to be whoever you wanna be. Get out of the closet without anyone caring."

"Heterosexuals don't have to come out of the closet, so why should I."

"So you are gay."

"I don't know what I am." Gaara shook his head, "Look, I have to go. I can hear Dad's car pulling up and I doubt either of you want to see eachother."

"He's an asshole." Kankuro replied simply. "I wouldn't tell Temmie we had this conversation, either- you know how she gets when we try to tiptoe around the old man."

And with that, the call ended.

 

 

Two days later, the class bell rung and Gaara was ready to cry with relief- if he read one more article about the increasing numbers of immigrants migrating to Europe, his brain would turn to mush.

"Gaaaaah!" Naruto ran fingers through his blonde hair as they exited into the hallway. Students wore suits, as if they were in a workplace, and were asked to speak to everyone formally and respectfully. They prowled the university, well-educated rich boys who either worked themselves to the bone or let their status do all the talking: Gaara and Naruto were seemingly the only different ones.

Of course, Gaara was put under a lot of pressure to follow in his Father's footsteps, but he worked with speed and calmness and always managed to get everything together.

Naruto, on the other hand.

His father was Minato Namikaze, who led and managed a prosperous city by the name of Konoha. As far as Gaara knew, Minato focused his tactics on equality and community cohesion (a method his own father never chose to follow) and somehow that all worked out for him. Gaara liked to think that when he took his Father's place, he'd focus a little more on that kind of thing, too.

Maybe not to the extent Naruto would, though.

The blonde boy was rowdy and constantly causing a scene; he'd start fights with homophobes who protested at pride parades and would accuse any insults he received as being 'racist, because I have pride in my Japanese heritage, 'ttebayo!'

He was pretty sure Naruto couldn't be that Japanese, considering he didn't speak a word of the language, and both him and his father had electric yellow hair that couldn't possibly be a Japanese trait- but the excuse got a lot of people to leave him alone, at least. His grades weren't all that good and sometimes he'd say dumb things, like:

"Y'know, Gaara, I wanna be the first man to set foot on the Sun!"

"You can't touch the sun, Uzumaki. It's surface area is around five and a half thousand degrees Celsius."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows at his friend, as if Gaara was the one making an invalid point. "I'm not an idiot, ya nitwit- I'll just go to the sun at night!"

The redhead sighed, and followed him through hallways that swam with Professors and students, each with hurried expressions and folders tucked under their arms. Naruto looked at him, then jabbed him hard in the side, causing Gaara to flinch and bite back a shriek.

"Uzumaki, what- what the hell was that for?!" He hissed, his face flushing, not used to physical contact. Naruto stared at him for a long moment, then burst out laughing.

"Damn, Gaara, you're sensitive as hell!" He snorted, leaning close to his friend's ear, "Is this what you're like in the bedroom, Mister Sabaku?"

Gaara shifted away from him, covering his ear with his hand and shivering, "You're saying my surname wrong, Uzumaki, it's Sabaku no- and it has to come before my name. I'm the one here with the actual Japanese heritage."

"Awe, you're such a killjoy! I was just teasing!" He slapped Gaara on the back, who stumbled forward and struggled to regain balance, "And stop calling me Uzumaki! I have a name, y'know!"

"Yeah, and it's Uchiha's sex toy."

Realising what he said, Gaara covered his mouth and coughed, unsure where the crude insult came from because he'd never said anything like that before. He wasn't taught that way. Naruto stared at him for a long time, and Gaara almost gulped- his friend looked very, very offended. They stood in the hallway for a while, not breaking eye contact. Gaara was not the type for human interaction, but he did not want to lose his first friend because of a sex joke.

To his relief, Naruto's face cracked with a grin, "Bwahaha! Gaara, that was a good one- I mean, it's not true, obviously, I have a little lady I already got my eye on-"

"Haruno's a lesbian." Gaara shrugged.

"Wha- hey! Don't insult Sakura-chan like that!"

The redhead rolled his eyes, "It wasn't an insult, it was a fact. I can just tell."

"How?"

"I don't know."

With a befuddled expression, Naruto hurried after his friend into the cafeteria. The scent of steamed rice and soy sauce filled the air, and the two wandered over to the counter to retrieve their lunch; Gaara picked very little, being the shortest student at the university, and Naruto had a portion that was about three times the size of his own. Gaara sat down on an empty table. Naruto remained standing.

"Okay, so if you can pick out sexualities so easy- what am I?"

"An idiot."

"Tch!"

The corner of Gaara's lip twitched, and Naruto identified it as a tiny smile. He sat down opposite his friend and shoved the straw of a juice box into his mouth, slurping happily, pleased that he was having a positive impact on a boy who seemed so monotone he could've been a robot. A robot that worked at Hot Topic. Or a robot member of Green Day.

"FOOOOOOOOOD~!"

The ears of the feasting students were disintegrated by the bellowing voice of a female pupil. There weren't a huge amount of girls who went to the university, so many of the young men turned excitedly to the source of the commotion: a girl with dark hair, pulled up into twin buns, ran through the cafeteria at such incredible speed that she may have broken the sound barrier- four students sped after her.

Gaara squinted at the running figures and identified one as Neji Hyuga. His family had quite the status, and although the young man had only been at the university for a few days he was already gaining high respect from his professors. A flash of pink hair told him Sakura Haruno was among them, and he could practically see Naruto's imaginary tail wagging with excitement. Sasuke Uchiha was the last person Gaara knew of, and he was the only one out of the group who was walking. He swaggered, his hand in his pockets, not smiling, his hair styled perfectly and his outfit was that of a king- a modern, emo king, that is. Some tall guy overtook them, his speed matching that of the disruptive girl, and locked his strong arms around hers and hoisted her up into the air.

"Tenten, please! You can't skip the line!"

"C'mon, Lee, these kids eat fancy-shmancy stuff everyday! They can wait!"

"Those two are scholarship students," Naruto answered before the redhead opened his mouth, "some of the only kids here who got in through hard work and not their parents money."

He eyed them, scanning their bodies, their posture. The girl he assumed to be Tenten was very plain-looking, with matching coffee-coloured eyes and hair. She was pale, and her nose was seasoned with freckles; she was wearing khaki shorts and a tank top with combat boots.

He turned to the guy.

Tall, definitely over six foot. He was tan, olive-skinned, with a neat bowl-cut and large, dark eyes shielded with long lashes. He wore simple workout shorts with a muscle shirt, revealing toned arms that were dotted with scrapes and scars. He wasn't incredibly buff- yet pleasingly muscular.

Mm... _woof._ *

Gaara found himself leaning forward, his chin in his palms, watching this so-called 'Lee' put the girl down. His smile was kind and radiant as he patted her on the head, like an older brother would, and they retreated to the back of the lunch line.

"You're staring." Naruto teased, prodding his friend on the nose with a used chopstick. Gaara grimaced and wiped the sauce off of his nose, not taking his eyes off of the strangely attractive student.

"I've never seen anybody who looks like that."

Naruto paused, then a wide smirk formed on his face. "Y'know, I've known Sasuke for years. I can introduce you to them if you want?"

"Why would I have any interest in that?" Gaara asked, still unable to tear his gaze away from Lee, who was now (rather sensually) biting his lower lip in anticipation for his upcoming meal.

"Come onnn, I have to talk to duckbutt anyway and you have no choice but to come with me because you have no other friends."

The truth is rather sad. He sighed, stood slowly, softly exhaling. "Mm, fine."

By the time they had made (or shoved, in Naruto's case) their way through the crowds of students waiting to retrieve their lunch (who were sneering at the 'scholarship mutts'), the group of five had gained their lunch and had seated themselves at a table by the window. Naruto panther-crawled his way over to them and leaped on to Sasuke's lap.

"Heeyyy, teme! You still have my gameboy and I want it back!"

Sasuke stared at him blankly before shoving him off his lap. "I gave that back to you when we were five, usuratonkachi. You've just lost it. Check in your porn stash."

"Why would it be in my porn stash when it's a gaming console, idi- hey, wait! I don't have a porn stash, you bastard!"

Gaara was very uncomfortable. Looking up, he caught Lee's gaze and realised that the guy had been watching him. Lee blinked at Gaara, then smiled at him. Gaara's eyes widened, and Lee grinned at the shy half-smile the redhead gave back.

"Sabaku."

Gaara turned to the young man with long hair and cocked his head to the side. "Hm?"

"Sabaku no Rasa- he's your father, right?" Neji Hyuga's eyes met Gaara's, pale lilac clashing with jade. After looking deeply into his empty pupils, determining his emotions, Gaara came to the conclusion that the young man was judging him rather harshly.

"Don't like my father, hm?" The fire in Neji's eyes grew stronger and Gaara shook his head. "That's alright. I'm not a big fan of his either."

"Why?" Tenten intervened, resting her chin in her palms- the redhead turned his attention to her, but out of the corner of his eye saw Neji relax with satisfaction. "I mean, he's some rich politician, right? Surely that means you get as much, I dunno, expensive ice cream as you like?"

"I don't like ice cream." He shrugged, "I hate the cold."

"So what desserts do you like?"

 _Well that was a sudden change of topic_ , Gaara thought. "Uh... Cookies. I like cookies."

"I have a few, if you want them." Lee was talking now, and Gaara perked up to listen to him. Naruto scoffed from across the table at him, and the redhead gave him a menacing case of side-eye to get him off his back. "My foster mum gave them to me- I can't eat them, though."

Gaara blinked, wondering why anyone would ever cut cookies out of their diet. He wasn't really much for sweet things, but cookies were a complete exception: warm, vanilla-scented dough heated until golden-brown, hints of chocolate here and there-

Looking down, Gaara realised the sudden cause of his food-porn-fantasy was a cookie placed directly in front of him. He blinked and glanced up; Lee smiled at him. "Ah- okay, um, thanks."

Naruto snorted.

Gaara's aggressive side-eyeing grew stronger.

"Sooooo..." Tenten muttered, attempting to break the uncomfortable silence. "Giira-"

_Giira?_

"It's Gaara."

Tenten blinked, then looked very embarassed. "Oh, right, right, sorry-!" She cleared her throat, "Eh- Gaara- do you have any hobbies?"

"Judging people's sexualities without knowing them?" Naruto butted in, and Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"It's not judging, it's just-" Six pairs of eyes stared inquisitively at him. Gaara sighed. "Okay, so, I'm kind of a wallflower, and I'm not great in the whole friendship department. It's almost like..." he cleared his throat, "in the least stereotypical way possible, I guess I pick up on the little things. Body language, posture, stuff like that."

"Okay, so what are our sexualities then?" Sakura leaned forward, resting her chin her palms.

Gaara sweatdropped, "Eh-"

"-I heard you were quite the artist." Sasuke spoke up, immediately changing the topic; Gaara tilted his head at the raven-haired boy. "You sketch, right? And play the violin?"

"That's right. I don't know who told you that, though."

"Naruto."

"You two talk a lot, don't you?" Tenten purred, and Sasuke scoffed.

"That doesn't prove anything. Nothing. Lee and Neji used to talk all the time and look where that led to-"

"-THERE'S A PARTY THIS WEEKEND!"

Gaara's poor, sensitive ears were ruined once again. He raised his non-existent eyebrows at the boy with the bowl haircut, who was sweating vigorously and breathing rather violently (it sounds ridiculous, but somehow Gaara could see steam coming out of his ears and nostrils like an angry bull). Noticing his loud outburst, Lee attempted to relax and laughed nervously. Neji remained monotone.

"Ah, I'm just saying. It's Ino's birthday, see, that really popular girl?"

The redhead vaguely remembered a pretty, blonde girl that carried a Gucci purse everywhere and wore stilettos to all of her classes. Gaara was fairly certain that he had no romantic feelings for her- but he could appreciate her aesthetic on a level of attraction. "Okay, that's nice. Why are you bringing it up?"

"You can come with us, if you want?"

"I'm not that into parties."

"Me neither. It'll be nice to be there with someone else that's sober."

"Lee gets angry when he's drunk." Tenten said slyly.

"Which is why I don't drink-" Lee sighed.

Gaara blinked at him and glanced at all the faces around the table. "I mean, I suppose I could go. If I convince my Father that I have a debate meeting."

"And we'll get you back by midnight, Cinderella." Naruto winked. Gaara turned back to Lee, who had that same stupid grin on his face, his dark eyes soft and warm, his teeth practically sparkling as if he was in a Colgate commercial. He gulped.

"Okay. I'll be there."

"Great!" Tenten leapt up, taking them all by surprise, and squished Gaara into a tight hug. He tensed up and shifted uncomfortably in her muscular arms before wriggling away. The brown-haired girl laughed it off and saluted to him before sprinting out of the cafeteria, the exact same way she ran in.

"Guess we're going back to class." Neji grumbled and stood up, the rest of the martial arts students following his lead. He looked into Gaara's eyes, and the redhead picked up on something hiding in those lilac irises that he couldn't identify. Before he could figure it out, a swish of long brown hair told him that Neji had turned on his heel and followed the path that the rowdy girl with twin buns had left.

Naruto and Gaara remained at the table.

"Gay." The blonde said.

"What?"

"Well, Gaara, what do you think Lee's sexuality is?"

He frowned at his friend. "I don't know."

"I think he's gay."

"You don't know anything, Naruto."

"In fact, he's almost as gay as you~"

Gaara shoved him in the shoulder, but couldn't hide an amused smile. "Shut up."

"You shut up."

"You were the one who started this whole argument-"

The two bickered as they poked and pushed each other out of the room and back to their classroom: curry-flavoured ramen was what filled Naruto's mind, and a taijutsu student with a bowl haircut was what filled Gaara's.

 


	2. Week Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara tells his brother about the enthusiastic taijutsu student named Lee, and Kankuro seems eager to encourage a relationship between the two.
> 
> Further along in the week, Gaara attends a party hosted by Ino Yamanaka.

"I told you there'd be a party."

"I didn't say there wouldn't be- I just wasn't expecting to be invited." Gaara shook his head and slid a stick of rosin up the hair of his violin bow, flecks of the amber-coloured material shooting down to the floor.

"Who invited you?" Kankuro's voice was barely audible under the buzzing of a tattoo gun; Skype's programming attempted to tune the irritating noise out of the call, but to no avail.

"A friend of Naruto."

"Male or female?"

"Male."

"And did he invite you personally?"

"I guess so."

"Mhm..." Kankuro had a wide smirk on his face, but the grin was quickly replaced by a grimace as the tattoo gun skimmed over a particularly sensitive part of his arm. He gritted his teeth. "So, tell me all about him."

"Why?" Gaara raised his invisible eyebrows, "He's just a scholarship student and he's friends with Uchiha and Hyuga. There's not much else to tell."

"Hey, hey, I'm just interested. I want to know what your date looks like, little bro."

"He's not my date."

"Yeah, sure. Now what does he look like?"

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Um... Black hair. Bowl cut."

"Tasteful." Kankuro snickered.

"Really dark brown eyes. So dark they're kind of a charcoal colour."

"Okay, cool, right- and his body?"

"His what?"

Kankuro laughed out loud and shook his head as he circled the tattoo gun over his arm, "Come on, from one gay man to another."

"I told you, I don't know what I am." Gaara huffed, embarassed.

"Yeah, and maybe this conversation will help you find out."

Gaara narrowed his eyes at him as he turned off the tattoo gun. His brother eyed the ink-covered patch on his forearm and started to wipe the area clean. The redhead rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay." he exhaled deeply and squinted up at the ceiling, remembering his first encounter with the taijutsu student. "So, he's pretty tall, maybe over six foot?"

"You're at a perfect blowjob height for him, then."

"Kankuro!"

He laughed again, "I'm kidding. Is he buff?"

"More muscular than Kiba."

The brown-haired man wolf whistled. "You're in good company, then. And he's a scholarship student, right? So he's sweet and humble, I'm guessing."

"Isn't that a little stereotypical?" Gaara ran his fingers through his hair and slumped back onto his bed, feeling the mattress compress under his weight. "Just because he isn't rich doesn't mean he can't be rude or a snob."

"But I'm right, aren't I?"

Gaara paused, "... Yeah. He's really sweet."

"I knew it." There was a honk outside the house, causing Gaara to jump out of his skin and topple off the bed; Kankuro cringed on the computer screen and his eyes widened, "What the fuck was that?!"

Faintly, but nonetheless rowdy and annoying, a familiar voice burst through the window. "Get in loser, we're going shopping!"

"And you'd better be wearing pink, it's a Wednesday!"

"Tenten- no- it's Tuesday-"

"Oh. Well shit."

Gaara groaned and pushed himself back onto the bed. "I didn't realise they were going to come this early. Sorry, Kankuro."

"Were they quoting Mean Girls?"

"I wouldn't know, I've never seen it."

Kankuro gasped. "Really? What the hell, Gaara, you won't be fully gay until you've seen it!"

"Oh my God, Kankuro, just-" The redhead exhaled deeply, attempting to calm himself. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"A'ight. Have fun, little bro."

 

 

 

Music was blaring, and Gaara was incredibly uncomfortable.

Ino Yamanaka was one of the university's rich kids, so her dorm room was extravagant to say the least. Pale walls, a shining kitchen, a chandelier hanging above a huge staircase that led to her room- the place looked like it belonged to Sharpay Evans from High School Musical or some shit. Though modern and somewhat clean, there were red cups strewn all over the floor and kitchen counters, and most of the guests had decided that they were going to dance on every table there was in the dorm (the ten-thousand dollar glass coffee table already lay in pieces). Gaara felt bad for whichever maid Ino hired to clean the place up.

Even though the setting was loud and there was nothing but the scent of sweat, Chanel perfume and alcohol, the young redhead felt quite happy to sit in the corner of the room and observe his first party. He was sat cross-legged on a plush beanbag in the corner furthest away from the speakers, his chin in his hands. After Tenten and Naruto's intense shopping spree a couple of days before, his two friends had decided on dressing him in what they called "punk gayboy couture". It sounded like some sort of term used on RuPaul's Drag Race, but either way, Gaara wasn't complaining.

Because, he had to admit: it did look flattering on him.

To keep him in his comfort zone, Tenten allowed him to buy more black skinny jeans; alternatively, Naruto shoved him out of his comfort zone by buying him insane amount of band tees, fishnet, and certain outfits that were borderline crossdressing. The final decision on his choice for the party was an oversized white tee, a pair of skeletal-print black skinny jeans, combat boots, fingerless gloves and a fake snakebite piercing- his father would murder him if he had a real one. He was certain that a few of the people here actually thought he was a girl with a cute pixie cut or something, but then again, Gaara cared little for other people's opinions.

He was also wearing eyeliner, which Tenten pretty much forced him to try in order to cover his 'severe case of I-stay-up-too-late-on-the-internet eyebags'. It almost scared him how much he liked it.

He continued observing the dancing drunkards. Ino was in the centre of all the attention, wearing a tight-fitting red dress and strappy heels; there were multiple guys stood around her, ogling, but she kept her attention on the guy she was dancing with, pressing up against him, her hands flat on his back. There was something about the look on her love interest's face that was dangerous, and Gaara was mildly concerned for the blonde girl. He tried to brush it off and glanced around the room: Naruto was drinking, Sakura was drinking, Tenten was drinking and wolf-whistling at girls no matter how busted they looked, Sasuke was drinking yet somehow also remaining calm and focused- there was just so much _alcohol._

_Am I the only one not drinking?_

After searching the room a little longer, Gaara's non-existent eyebrows furrowed. Lee was the one who had actually invited him here, but he seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Deciding that he hadn't turned up, with a disappointed curve of his lips, Gaara decided to look around to pass the time- considering his friends were too focused on things that weren't keeping an eye on him. He stood, brushing off his jeans, feeling the texture of the white fabric paint on them that created the skeletal leg design, and began to wander about the dorm.

After leaving the central room and into the hallway, he noticed quickly that Ino and her boyfriend had earlier exited the dancefloor and were now making out on the stairs. "Geez-" The redhead muttered, awkwardly shuffling to the other side of the room in hopes that they wouldn't notice him.

"Babe, babe- just stop for a second, please-"

He inwardly groaned as he heard the young man chuckle and continue doing, well, whatever he was doing- but the memory of that guy's expression felt haunting. Easing himself forward so he could see what was happening, he heard low curse words and hushing, a couple of squeaks, and it eventually sounded like a struggle.

"What are you doing?" The redhead asked as he stepped into the couple's view. The man lurched backwards, leaving Ino pressed against the banister, and glanced at him. After looking back and forth between him and the blond girl, the man walked up to her and grabbed her arm, hissing something inaudible, before striding down the stairs, shooting a glare at Gaara as he passed. Ino clutched at the neckline of her dress, biting her lip, clearly frightened and embarrassed.

As soon as the door swung shut behind her lover, it opened again. A head poked through the gap before Rock Lee stepped in. "Hey, Ino, you alright? I just saw Ryuu storm past me-"

Her lower lip trembled and quivered, and she gave a shakey nod before rushing up to her bedroom. Lee blinked, his large eyebrows furrowing.

"I didn't think you were coming." Gaara said, a hint of bitterness but also somewhat relief in his tone. Lee laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Eh, sorry about that. Normally I like to show up when most of the alcohol has gone so I'm not tempted."

"Not a drinker?"

"No. I get weird when I'm drunk." Swiftly changing the subject, Lee gestured in the direction that Ino left in, "Was it Ryuu?"

"Her boyfriend?" Gaara looked over at Lee seriously, "Yeah, I think he was trying to get at her." He narrowed his eyes and massaged his temple, "I didn't realise parties were this dramatic."

"They always are." Lee exhaled a breath of stress and pulled out his mobile phone, which happened to be a 2005 brick nokia. The type that was so strong you could use it as a weapon in the zombie apocalypse. Lee must have noticed the redhead staring because he laughed loudly, "Like my phone? I'm waaaaay too hipster for apple."

"Well, I mean- it's been a while since I've seen a device like that."

Lee shrugged, smiling humbly. "I don't have any of my parents' money to blow like everyone else here."

Gaara cocked his head to the side, blinking as Lee typed in a phone number and pressed the call button. "Are your parents broke or something?"

The dark-haired man hesitated, and Gaara saw a hint of sadness in his charcoal eyes as he held his cellphone to his ear. "Not exactly."

He furrowed his eyebrows, but didn't continue the conversation as Lee had began talking to the person on the phone; "Yeah, Hinata, it's me. No, I'm fine- but we have another code purple situation."

_Code purple?_

Gaara was very confused.

"Yes, it was Ryuu again, but Gaara cut in before anything happened. You and the girls should go check on her though- I don't want to intrude. Yes. No, she went up to her room a while ago." Lee sighed into the phone's speaker and shook his head, "Alright. Good luck."

After hanging up, Lee slid the phone back into his pocket and rubbed his hands together, "Right-" he spun around to face Gaara, who stood awkwardly in front of him, then paused very suddenly. The redhead felt his heartbeat grow faster as he watched Lee's eyes scan over his body, down to his chest and legs, before stopping at his face. There was a pause, and Gaara worried that Lee didn't get his fashion sense- or rather the fashion sense that Naruto and Tenten picked out for him. "Are you wearing eyeliner?" Lee asked, his large brows furrowing.

"Yes...?" Gaara replied uncertainly.

"Huh."

They locked eyes, and Gaara held his breath. After a minute or so, Lee's cheeks flushed and he looked away bashfully, "Aha- it looks good on you, Gaara-san, um, it looks very... youthful."

"Are you subtly telling me that it looks bad or something?" The redhead was more amused than offended, he watched his companion with a tiny half-smirk: Lee began to visibly panic, his face turning the colour of a beetroot- he even began fanning his face like a flustered tumblr fangirl on a yaoi porn blog.

"No- no- I mean quite the opposite- I mean- you look..." His eyes darted left to right, "you look... different. But a good different."

Tilting his head, the red-haired boy started to chuckle at Lee's behaviour. "Thanks. I feel pretty edgy wearing it."

"Yeah- edgy- I bet you do-"

Gaara's attention was soon taken by a young, beautiful woman gliding out from the party room. She had hair the colour of indigo and lilac eyes, and her long dress trailed after her like waves dancing on the beach. Behind her followed Tenten and Sakura- all three looked ready to start a war.

"I thought you only called Hinata?" He asked, blinking at the brigade of girls. Lee guffawed.

"Girls travel in packs, Gaara-san, it makes them ten times more dangerous. If one goes to support Ino, all of them do." He patted Gaara's shoulder, causing him to jump a little in surprise, before leading him to the kitchen. "C'mon, let's see if we can find any Sprite."

"I'm learning so much tonight," Gaara continued, as they entered the pantry and the dark-haired man began to rummage through the fridge, "this drunk guy came up to me, reeking of tequila, put both arms around me and stared very intently into my eyes. You know what he told me?"

"What?" Lee asked uncertainly, squinting at a bottle of fancy lemonade to check it was alcohol-free.

"He told me, very seriously, these exact words: 'If you're drowning in the pussy, then swim to the butt.'"

Lee choked on his own saliva, almost dropping the bottle. He wrinkled his nose, passing the lemonade to his friend. "A life lesson you'll never forget, I'm sure."

"Yeah, I never forget what Naruto tells me."

"Typical that Naruto would quote Drake as some kind of enlightenment." He passed the expensive soda to Gaara, who read the label with his eyes narrowed.

" _Un miracle d'agrumes_. A citrus miracle."

"It better be a miracle- these are fifty bucks a pack." Lee rolled his eyes, smiling, as he popped open the bottle and took a gulp, watching the scene of the party from the quiet atmosphere of the kitchen. Gaara followed his lead (though taking a longer attempt to open the lemonade- his feeble fingers struggled for a good minute or two) and rested his back against the counter to observe the drunkards from a safe distance. The pair were sober wallflowers- mice in a room full of hyenas. They remained in comfortable silence, picking out lyrics from the hip hop song that was playing, watching the intoxicated couples melt together into a slow dance as Ed Sheeran began to play. Gaara glanced at Lee out of the corner of his eye and noticed that his onyx irises were fixated on Neji Hyuga and another man, dancing together, their bodies in unison, content smiles on their faces. Lee remained quiet, and Gaara tried to read his emotions.

"What are you thinking about?" He finally asked. Rock Lee didn't look at him.

"You're not the only one who's learning a lot tonight." He said simply. Gaara stared at him, then back at the couple, trying to figure out the cause of the tension that filled the room like the seawater did in the movie Titanic, which his sister couldn't watch without crying. He remembered the characters' fear and confusion as they drowned, and for some reason, Gaara felt something similar.

"What are you hiding?" He murmured, not knowing whether Lee had heard him or not. Regardless, the man with the bowl haircut finally turned to look at him and grabbed his wrist, surprising the aspiring politician.

"Let's dance."

"What?"

"Here, just us. Let's dance."

And Lee pulled him into his arms. Gaara was incredibly uncomfortable, worried about being held too tight or too close. But Lee was so gentle. He remained distant, yet close, his grasp was loose but secure enough to make the redhead feel almost safe. This was all so strange- he kept questioning as they swayed to the rhythm whether this contact meant anything to the taijutsu student. He didn't complain when Gaara accidentally stood on his toes, only chuckled and said, "You're almost as clumsy as I am."

He couldn't think. All that ran through his head was the same question- what the hell was going on?

Finally, he looked up to meet Lee's eyes to find that they had been watching him for a while. Shyly, he scanned those dark irises for something, a clue, a sign that would tell him what he was thinking. And after what seemed like hours of searching, he found something.

Gaara saw pain in Rock Lee's eyes.


	3. Week Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Temari worries that their father will be angry when she sees Gaara return home with Rock Lee, leading to a heated argument. After Kankuro convinces the redhead to apologise and the air is clear again, Gaara makes his way to school.
> 
> At lunch, the friends play a game of truth of dare, leading Gaara to reveal more about his past than he is comfortable with; broken and hurting, Ino and Sasuke decide to console him with unconventional methods.
> 
> Meanwhile, Rasa has something planned for Gaara that he certainly won't appreciate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be mentions of smoking. I am against smoking, but hey ho, it makes everything more interesting- and before anyone gets offended, the word 'fag' is British slang for a cigarette. There's also mentions of abuse because the characters reveal a little more about their backgrounds.

"It was inevitable that she saw, Kankuro," Gaara shrugged, addressing the stern expression of his brother on the $6000 laptop screen, "he walked me home, afterall."

"And did she say anything?"

_"What if father saw you, Gaara, parading around with another guy?"_

_"It's not even like that, Temari, and even if it was, you could have just told him I was drunk or something."_

_Temari narrowed her eyes, "You can't use alcohol as an excuse for batting your eyelashes at the same sex!"_

_"Don't be such a homophobe." Gaara was already halfway up the stairs, walking away from her lecture._

_"Don't you dare call me that, Gaara, you know I'm doing this to keep you safe!"_

_"I can take care of myself, for God's sake!"_

"She hasn't talked to me in a week."

Kankuro frowned, heating his tanned fingers with a mug of coffee, "Look, kiddo, you know I'm not the sentimental type."

"But?" Gaara asked expectantly, knowing what his brother was about to say.

"I really think you should apologise."

"No."

"Gaara, please, I'm serious." He sighed, leaning into the monitor and staring dead into his eyes, his expression stoney. "Say that you and Lee actually ended up getting romantic with each other. If Dad saw you two, that stuff you said to Temari could have been your final words."

"But nothing happened."

"That's not the fucking point, Gaara, you're not listening to me!"

There was an eerie silence. Gaara stared with his eyes wide into the computer screen, surprised, and shrunk underneath the harsh gaze of his brother. The redhead was not the type of person to back down from an argument, however, his brother was older, wiser (kind of), and a lot stronger than he was. After noticing Gaara had given up, Kankuro exhaled slowly and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I didn't mean to be hard on you, little bro, I just..." He shook his head, refusing eye contact, "Look, if you wanted to give dad the middle-finger and be a complete asshole to him, I would give you masses of support. He deserves every single bit of your anger. But that's my view, not Temari's, and she's a lot better at keeping you safe than I am."

"I know."

"So you'll apologise?"

"Yes."

"Good."

His brother tapped the sides of his coffee mug, tan and worn with little bumps and scrapes peppered over each knuckle. Gaara ran his sight over them, then he looked at his own hands: they were ghostly white, untouched, so smooth and soft they could have been laced with fine silk. They reminded him very much of a brand new porcelain doll: his hands had yet to be held by a loving owner, and they also had yet to be broken.

Each of the Sabaku siblings had learned to build up a shield around them to protect themselves from pain and suffering. Metaphorically, Temari's was made of paper, easily ripped by her childhood abuse and shredded by her forced engagement, leaving her broken and hurt; she had learned to stick herself back together with her siblings' support and dreams of a better future, but the tear in her defenses remained clear, and it was reflected by her constant outward state of exhaustion: eyes always drooping, mouth never smiling. Kankuro's shield was crafted with wood, like the string puppets he made as a boy. The sturdy timber kept him out of harm's reach for a while until their father discovered his relationship with Kiba; Rasa's ruthless homophobia quickly cut his shield down.

Gaara was the only one completely protected. He'd locked himself in a shell that not even his friends could gain entry to- it was strong, malleable like sand, it left him untouched from human contact and isolated him into a circle of nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company. Come to think of it, the aspiring politician's tender dance with Lee the previous week was the first time anyone had held him like that. Steadily, Gaara's thoughts began to ease back to that night: Lee's hands placed securely on his hips, Gaara's arms round his neck, fingers identifying the curve of his muscular shoulder-blades concealed by his cotton shirt, Lee's nose in line with his forehead, breath warm and mint-scented, his lips were inches away.

What is it like to be kissed, he asked himself.

"Oi, Gaara."

"Mmm?"

"I was asking where you were going today."

"Oh." The redhead shook a forming blush off his face. "Just to classes, as usual. Nothing special."

"Okay, well have fun. And if you come home and tell me that you and lover boy didn't have a moment, I will sneak into your house Assassin's Creed style, find all your secret Beyonce posters and burn them."

"Good fucking luck." Gaara snorted, before ending the call. He glanced over at his walk-in-wardrobe at the side of his room, where he had expertly hidden the merchandise of his favourite singer. His infatuation with the famous diva was a secret only his brother knew, who'd caught him attempting the choreography for 'single ladies' when he was twelve years old. Smiling at the memory, he lifted himself off the sofa and made his way downstairs, right hand skimming the polished banister. After scoping his surroundings, his smile widened ever so slightly at the lack of his father's presence; he walked into the kitchen, humming 'Irreplaceable' under his breath; mind swimming with Beyonce, cookies, the taste of peppermint, Kankuro's tattoo of a raccoon that was designed in his favour, the shade of Lee's eyes, the sound of Lee's laugh. He paused when he spotted Temari with a cup of coffee, staring into a slice of burnt toast. She was gripping the mug so tightly that Gaara thought it might break. Deciding the best time to apologise was now, while he was in a good mood, he slid into the seat opposite her and poured himself some English breakfast tea that Temari had prepared for him, as she did every morning. His sister did not look up at him. She sat. She stared.

When Temari grew into young adulthood, she was one of the most attractive women that roamed planet earth. Curvy, wide hips, clear skin, gentle eyes and dark blonde hair. His sister was now barely into her mid-twenties and already she looked so old, so tired. Her face was etched with stress lines, her eyebrows always furrowed as if she was constantly worrying, her eyes sunken in with dark circles that could compete with his own.

"Are you seeing your fiance today?" Gaara asked sheepishly, trying to start a decent conversation. Temari's eyes flickered up to him, then back to her toast.

"No. I have a day off work so I'm going to make some wedding plans and then get father to verify them."

"Have you got your dress yet?"

"Father's picking it out."

"Of course he is."

There was pause, and Gaara began to tap on the table to break the silence. "You know what I think you should wear?"

"What?"

"One of those sheer dresses." He tilted his head at his sister and mustered the best smile he could at her, "Y'know, the ones that are basically see-through except at your chest and round your mid-section. That would be fun to see."

"Yeah, father would love that."

"Your fiance would love it even more."

Temari smiled slightly and Gaara exhaled with relief. He'd cheered her up, at least a little bit. She understood he was trying to make it up to her. "Maybe I could wear thigh-high white boots with it." She added humorously, causing her brother to chuckle a bit.

"And keep them on for the honeymoon."

"Oh, you're such a pervert, Gaara. You really need to start getting sexually active." She joked.

"Won't that technically make it worse?"

"Not if you're constantly an uke."

The redhead's jaw dropped; his sister was scolding him for walking home with a boy just last week, but now she was encouraging him to have gay sex- with him on 'the bottom' so to speak. "Temmie!" He mock-gasped, "You're ruining my innocence!"

"Oh, I do apologise. That's your bowl-cut boyfriend's job, isn't it?" She laughed as his face began to turn a similar colour to his scarlet hair. He buried his face in his hands.

"I thought you didn't want me around him."

"I don't care who you want to be around, father does" She took a sip of her coffee, breaking eye contact. "Look, about last week. I was worried because you two showed up together while Dad was home. You were lucky that it was me who opened the door for you."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Ah, well, it's not worth shit anymore. You may as well have your boy-on-boy romance before you end up in an arranged marriage like me." She rolled her eyes in a comedic manner to mask how sad her situation truly was. "Besides, you're alot smarter than Kank was. You won't bring him home to have whipped-cream sex."

"Maybe I will- just without the dairy products."

"Gaaaaraaaaa."

"Temaaaariiiii." He whined back at her.

"Promise me you won't bring him here. If you're doing anything, do it somewhere else. Okay?"

"Okay, I promise."

"Good." Temari looked down at her burnt breakfast once more and grimaced, realising it's condition. "I think I might make another slice of toast." She murmured, standing up from her seat. Her brother nodded, also getting up, and grabbed his keys from his pocket.

"I'm going to class." He said, lifting his arm in farewell and moving towards the exit. He was stopped by his sister shoving a fistful of toast into his face.

"Take it, you're skinny enough already."

He unlocked the front door, carrying the toast between his teeth, mumbling his thanks to his Temari before leaving the house and kicking the door shut behind him.

 

 

"Nah, Sakura. Definitely Sakura."

"You sure? You do realise that Hinata's, like, a greek goddess come to life, and you still think Sakura's hotter?"

Tenten and Naruto continued to squabble over their girl-crushes, all-the-while with Sakura and Hinata sitting only a few inches away from them. The two were obviously used to it, just continuing to eat their lunch, Hinata blushing a little at the brown-haired girl's compliments. Gaara shook his head, turning his attention to his bowl of steaming ramen. In the reflection of the pool of steaming liquid, he saw a tall man come up behind him, and the redhead visibly winced when Rock Lee patted his head.

"Hey, Gaara. How was your day?"

"Fine." He mumbled, playing with his hands to distract himself. "And yours?"

"Ah, it was wonderful! Nothing like a few hours of ruthless taijutsu to clear a stressed mind!"

"Are you stressed, bushy-brows?" Naruto asked, raising his eyebrows in concern. Lee's eyes widened and he laughed sheepishly, waving his hands in a don't-worry-about-it way.

"No, no, I'm dandy as usual." He smiled. Gaara shook his head at him, and the dark-haired boy gave him a look. It was obvious to the taijutsu student that his small friend had identified that something was going on. He sat down opposite the redhead, giving him a soft-eyed smile, and mouthed, 'I'm fine' at him. The young politician began to feel weak at the knees and he simply nodded, cheeks heating up.

"So what was your plan, Naruto?" Ino asked, half-way through filing her already perfect nails. "You said we're all going to play a game, since we all have a free period."

"Aha, you're right, Miss Yamanaka." Naruto winked and Sasuke rolled his eyes at him. "We're all going to play truth or dare!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Neji asked, leaning into the embrace of his boyfriend, who had bad posture and hair shoved into a spikey ponytail.

"Okay, look, I'll start." The blonde boy turned to Sasuke, grinning, "Sasuke, do you love me?"

The Uchiha boy's eyes widened, taken aback, and he began to stutter over his words. "W-what- Naruto- how the hell am I supposed to answer that?!"

"Great, so since you won't answer your truth, you have to forfeit with a dare." He tapped his chin, smirking, scanning over his circle of friends. "Hmmm... Tenten, do you have a dare for Sasuke?"

"Indeed I do, but you won't like it~" She purred, grinning at the two boys. "Lean forward, put your lips together, and give Naruto a kiss worth remembering."

"Haha, good one, Tenten, good one... Wait, WHAT-?"

The brown-haired student snorted, the rest of the girls giggling beside her. "I said, duckbutt needs to give you a big, fat, kiss. One that The Notebook would be proud of."

"You've got to be kidding me." Sasuke wheezed.

"I don't joke around when it comes to yaoi."

"Fine."

The friends all grinned and laughed with each other before watching the couple expectantly. Gaara was particularly interested- maybe he'd learn a thing or two.

Naruto and Sasuke gave each other looks of mass discomfort. They began to lean towards one another, eyes squeezed shut, red in the face, before pressing their lips together. Barely half a second passed before they yanked away from each other, retching and heaving.

"Pathetic." Tenten said. "Alright, Lee, your turn. Someone come up with a truth."

"I have one." Ino raised her hand slowly, a sly smile on her face and an evil glint in her eye. "Tell us, Lee. Are you crushing on anyone?"

Cue chorus of 'ooo's.

Gaara watched the boy with the bowl-cut intently, extremely entertained. Lee kept a cool exterior, drumming his fingers on the table, thinking. Although he seemed calm, the redhead noticed his friend had began to sweat, and a vein was throbbing on his forehead. "Crushing? Hmm. I wouldn't say that, no, I don't really 'like' anyone in the romantic sense." He looked around at everyone at the table, and for some reason, Gaara could swear that Lee had locked eye contact with him for a second or two. "I will say, however, that I'm... intrigued."

"Intrigued?" Ino raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Like, I don't really have a crush on anyone, but someone has, let's say, caught my attention."

"Oh, who could it be, it's not obvious at all..." Naruto murmured, loudly enough for Gaara to kick him under the table. Lee looked down at his feet, a small smile on his lips, before looking up again.

"Okay, Neji's turn. Who has a truth for Neji?"

The redhead found himself zoning out, thinking very deeply over what Lee said. Intrigued. Intrigued... _Intrigued._ What the hell did that mean?

Hinata raised her hand, very quietly. The long-haired man gave her a gentle smile- the two were closely related and Neji really had a soft spot for her. "Go on, Hinata."

"Nii-san." She said, more of a whisper, something hiding in her pale irises that Gaara couldn't figure out. "The truth I have for you is... have you ever cheated on anyone?"

The silence in the room lasted for what seemed like hours. Neji stared at her, eyes wide, lips slightly parted- Hinata simply watched him almost icily, her face expressionless. Gaara glanced over at Lee, who still looked composed, but he could see his clenched fists under the table and his eyes start to redden: was Lee upset with Neji?

Thinking back to the night of the party, the aspiring politician tried to remember anything that would help piece this confusion into some sort of answer. He remembered Ed Sheeran, the dancing, the couples, the PDA, Neji's arms wrapped around his boyfriend's neck and the weird pain in Lee's expression.

_"You're not the only one who's learning a lot tonight."_

Oh.

_Oh._

"Dare me, Hinata. I'm not answering that."

How dare you, Gaara thought. How could you, why would you, he loved you, Gaara thought. He couldn't take his eyes off of Lee, who'd began to stare down at his lap, black bangs hiding his eyes, Ino's hand rubbing his shoulder in comfort. Hinata looked disappointed: she was obviously hoping Neji would confess so they could all move on from the breakup in peace. The fact that he kept quiet just confirmed what he had done, and it had upset Lee a lot.

"Give me a truth." Gaara said, locking eye contact with Neji.

"He hasn't been dared yet," His boyfriend said sternly, trying to intimidate the small student. It worked about as well as a snail without a shell.

"Give me a truth." He repeated, slower this time, punctuating each word, "I am trying to change the subject so we can move on from whatever the hell you did to Lee."

Neji's eyes narrowed. They continued to stare at each other, their friends watching uncomfortably, lilac irises burning into aqua. "Fine." He said, not breaking eye contact. "Well, then, Sabaku no Gaara. Have you ever had your heart broken?"

_Oh, he's playing that game._

"Neji, stop, let's just quit playing." Lee interrupted, "Gaara, it's okay, you don't have to answer-"

"My heart was broken before I even opened my eyes." The red-haired man was now infuriated, his tone dripping with venomous anger. "I was born premature, weeks before I was due, and my mother died in childbirth, taking any love I was supposed to get with her. My father was abusive to all of my siblings but he couldn't stand my existence. He blamed me, over and over, for the death of my mother, until I believed him. I murdered my mother, unintentionally, without even opening my goddamn eyes. And you know what?" He began to laugh sarcastically, partly because it was ridiculous he was admitting all of this, partly because Neji was beginning to look incredibly guilty, "I have a piano in my room. I don't even play piano. My mother did. My father put it in the centre of my room so every morning I could wake up to the sight of it and remember that it was me that killed her. That, everyone, is heartbreak- something that you, _Hyūga_ , could never understand."

And then he was up, his chair knocked to the floor, and he was walking, so fast he could have been sprinting, in no particular direction. He'd talked too much, released too much information, scared and hurt too many people at that table. "Stupid..." He growled to himself, his eyes stinging with tears- he hadn't cried since he was four years old. "I shouldn't have said anything."

He pushed open the double doors to an empty balcony, walking right to the edge, then gripping the railing as hard as he could so he wasn't tempted to throw himself off. His breathing was ragged and heavy- he really did not want to start crying.

"Gaara-"

"Please, don't." The redhead gasped, covering his mouth, scared he was going to start sobbing. Expecting Naruto or Lee, he was surprised when a soft hand pressed against his back and began to rub in small, soothing circles. "Ino...?" He asked after a while, recognising her Chanel perfume.

"It's me. Sasuke's here, too."

"Why?"

"Because, Gaara," Sasuke said calmly, leaning against the railing beside him and folding his arms, "we're probably the only ones at that table who understand."

"I don't think anyone understands."

"We do." The blonde girl said, and Gaara turned round to face them. Thinking about it more, the aspiring politician was able to remember that not a day went by where Ino wouldn't come in with hickeys on her neck and bruises on her arms and thighs. It was obvious that the person behind this was Ryuu, the guy at the party, and it was also obvious that a lot of things were done in that relationship without Ino's consent. Sasuke, on the other hand, had millions of rumours circling round him. Some say his older brother murdered his family, some say his family framed his older brother for murder- either way, something bad had happened, something Sasuke wasn't willing to admit.

He was wrong. They did understand.

Ino had began to dig inside her handbag, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "Sasuke." She said, handing one to him, lighting it when he put it between his lips. Ino echoed him, taking the roll of tobacco and nicotine between two fingers and blowing out smoke from her lips. Gaara watched them.

"What's it like? Smoking, I mean?"

Sasuke took the cigar from his mouth and blew a puff of carbon monoxide into the cool air, watching the smoke cloud begin to dissipate. "It's stupid, really. In theory, the next fag you take could be your last, considering all the deadly stuff it has in it. But you don't think about that when smoking. It doesn't feel that good, it's more distracting. You stop focusing on your problems and start focusing on the smoke."

"It also keeps you skinny." Ino joked, nudging Gaara in the ribs, "But it's supposed to stop you from growing. I guess you don't need a cigarette for that, though." She giggled a little, shaking her head, before meeting his aqua eyes. Her brows furrowed at him.

"Hey, Gaara... did you want one?"

He tried to come up with a reason not to, but he was exhausted. "It's distracting, right?" He asked with a shrug, "I've never needed to be so distracted in a long time."

The blonde girl's nimble fingers whipped out another cigarette from her purse and handed it to him, pressing it between his middle and index finger.

"Is this a good idea?" Sasuke asked uncertainly.

"He's a big boy, Sasuke, he can make his own decisions." Ino gestured for him to put the drug in his mouth, so Gaara followed her orders. She clicked her lighter, creating a flame underneath, which burned the end into sunset-coloured embers. Mimicking what he saw from Sasuke and Ino (and every thriller movie he'd seen), he inhaled through his lips, removed the cigarette, and blew out a puff of smoke. Everytime he took a drag of the stick of tobacco he felt more and more light-headed; his mind was cleared of the memories of his father's abuse, in fact, it was cleared of everything. The feeling was not enjoyable, and his throat was starting to burn- but it kept him calm.

"Hey, Gaara, you alright?" Sasuke asked. "You look a little dizzy."

"I'm fine." He said after awhile, dropping the cigarette and putting it out with the tip of his shoe. "Better, now. Thanks. I think I'm going to go back inside."

"Okay, hun. You know where we are if you need a fag break." She smiled, and Gaara gave her a sheepish smile back. Pushing open the double doors, he re-entered the university's halls to find them empty. Class had already started. No point attempting to learn now. The redhead stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to wander downstairs, deciding to just return home. Maybe he'd pick up a pack of cigarettes on the way back.

"Hey, Gaara!"

He froze. He knew that Lee was behind him, he'd recognise that voice from a mile away- besides, Lee ran very loudly. He turned slowly to face the tall man, looking down at his feet. "Hello, Lee."

"Are you okay? I was going to go after you earlier but Ino and Sasuke beat me to it. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah." Gaara answered, his heart fluttering at the concern in Lee's eyes. The bowl cut man grinned at him and ruffled his hair, fingers tangling in scarlet locks.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"Are you, though?"

The taijutsu student paused, blinking down at him. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Neji cheated on you, didn't he? That's why you've been so worked up recently."

"Aha..." Lee rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, frowning, "I'm not very happy about you bringing that up, Gaara-san, but yes, he did."

"I want to help."

"Eh?"

"I'm your friend. I want to help you."

Lee's eyes widened a little at him, surprised. "Gaara-san, I don't need helping-"

"Yes you do. He hurt you. He broke your heart. I need-" He took a raspy breath, gripping his arms to stop himself from shaking, "I need... to fix it."

Lee gazed down at him, tilting his head. He then began to smile, eyes shining, and pulled him into a tight hug. "Nee, Gaara-san, you're so cute."

"I'm not cute..." He mumbled, tensing up in his friend's embrace, "I'm just tired..." After an awkward two minutes, he came to terms with the fact that Lee wasn't going to let go, so decided to let out a wistful sigh and rested his head on the tall man's shoulder. He smelled like pine and lemon- Gaara found himself nuzzling into his neck, enjoying the warmth and the softness of Lee's hoodie.

"Ah, how can you say that?" The dark-haired man grinned, "You claim you're not cute and yet you're nuzzling into my neck like some kind of kitten. Aww."

"Maybe I am a kitten. Kittens can bite."

"You're threatening to bite me?" Lee mused with a smirk, and Gaara's cheeks heated up.

"Yeah, but not anywhere that would be pleasurable."

"Mmm..." Lee rested his nose against his red hair, rubbing the small of Gaara's back very gently. "Your hair smells nice. The rest of you reeks of smoke, though. You need to stop hanging around Ino and Sasuke."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologise to me, apologise to your lungs." He chuckled, "Tell you what- everytime you think you need to take a cigarette, give me a hug instead. It works a lot better, and my hugs are cancer-free." Gaara smiled into Lee's neck and nuzzled closer, feeling warm and fluffy and uncomfortable and scared all at the same time.

When they finally pulled away, Lee stripped off his hoodie and plopped it onto the redhead's shoulders. "Here. Take it. It's supposed to rain today."

"What about you? Will you be okay?"

"I have an umbrella."

"Well..."

"Keep it." Lee winked, giving the young politician a salute before turning on his heel, retreating to the taijutsu gym. Gaara let out a large sigh, his mind riddled with different emotions. He made his way outside, grasping the hoodie, and as he got into his car he stared down at the soft fabric. He finally slipped it on, and was pleasantly surprised when he discovered it smelled like Lee and not tobacco smoke. Zipping up the jacket, he started the car and drove back to his home. When he returned, he found that it was raining very heavily, just as Lee said it would, and Gaara smiled at the sight of it. He went to unlock the front door but found it was already open. Furrowing his invisible eyebrows, he stepped inside, locking the door behind him. He looked around.

"Temari?"

He continued to walk through the hallway, hearing voices coming from the drawing room. Before he could enter, his sister grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of the way. "Gaara, no!" She hissed, dragging him upstairs with her, "Dad's having a meeting in there! If you walked in wearing a hoodie of all things-"

"What's this meeting about?" He asked.

Temari stopped in the middle of the landing and released his wrist. She turned to face him, took a deep breath, and gave him a stoic look.

"Father's getting you engaged."

"What? You're lying, Tem, nobody would want to-"

"He's found someone, Gaara. I tried to stop him, I really did." She sighed, pressing her lips into a firm line. "You're going to have to drop all ties with this boy you met. From now on, you're going to have to pretend you're a straight man."

And with that, Temari turned away and walked down the landing towards her bedroom. Gaara stared in shock after her, his heart filling with dread. Up the back of her arms, he could see dark bruises running from her wrists all the way to her shoulders.

She really had tried to stop him.

Now, all he could feel was rage. His father had abused Temari, kicked out Kankuro, and now he was going to restrain Gaara from any form of true happiness.

"Alright." He rasped, clenching his fists. "Father wants to force me into marriage." He glanced downwards at where the drawing room was beneath his feet, narrowing his eyes at the muffled speech and laughter.

"Let's see if he's still willing after I ruin his reputation."

 

 


	4. Week Four {Part One}

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kankuro believes that asking Lee out will help Gaara get revenge on their father. The redhead decides to ask Lee to accompany him to a gallery opening, intending for them to go as friends.

Gaara clicked on his laptop and tapped in the password on the keyboard, headphones on, his usual stoic expression a mask to hide the angry tension that was slowly rising in the pit of his stomach. His finger instantly dragged the cursor over to the window labelled 'Skype' and hurriedly requested a video call with his brother. After a few seconds of anxiously drumming his fingers against the desk, the call was answered, and a pixelated image of the brown-haired man filled the screen.

"Hey, little brother. Is everything okay?" Kankuro's eyes widened at the fury lurking beneath Gaara's scowl.

"Did Father ever try to get you married without your permission?" He asked.

"Eh? No. He was too focused on forcing Temari into engagement to get me into all that trouble."

"Then why," Gaara seethed, playing with his fingers to distract himself from the rage boiling in the pit of his stomach, "has he found me a fiance?"

Kankuro fell into silence, the awe in his expression evident by his parted lips and constricted pupils. He swallowed thickly, leaning in until the majority of the screen was taken up by his face. "Gaara, calm down-"

"No- _no_ \- I-" The redhead clutched at the hairs on his nape, taking a few heavy gasps in attempt to draw a sheet over his emotions. He sighed, releasing the exhale slowly, before continuing. "Kankuro, I came home last week and Temari had bruises _everywhere_. It's the worst I've seen her since she was caught trying to run away with her ex boyfriend all those years ago."

His brother swore viciously. "Gaara-"

"I'm sick of all of this, Kankuro. I'm strong enough to stand up for myself now."

"What are you going to do?"

Gaara paused, thinking it through, lulling over the dangerous plans that were seducing him into revenge. "A lot," he started, "and I'm going to need your help."

His sibling seemed to stare for an eternity. He knew it would happen. They'd fantasised about this from earliest childhood, praying that one day they'd find a life free of their father's angry grip. His brother let out a long sigh. "On one condition." He gazed at Gaara seriously, keeping their eyes locked. "You must keep Temari safe. Everytime you do something outrageous, you tell Dad that she had nothing to do with it. Understood?"

"I promise I won't involve her." Gaara replied. A slow grin began to form on Kankuro's face. He leaned back, folded his arms, and smirked at him through the computer screen.

"Good. Because I know exactly where to start."

Something about Kankuro's grin seemed particularly unnerving. Suddenly uncertain, Gaara cocked his head to the side. "Okay...?" He asked expectantly.

"Ask Lee out."

Heat flushed from Gaara's head all the way down to his toes. He shuddered at the idea, hoped that his blush wasn't too prominent, and cleared his throat. "No."

"Awe, c'mon!" His brother pouted, "You've been dying to go to that art gallery opening for weeks, and now you have someone to go with! Besides-" he blew a puff of brown hair out of his eyes and winked, "you're obviously head over heels for him."

"I'm not head over heels for anyone. I never have been, and I never will be. I'm not the loving type and you know it." Gaara huffed.

"Oh really?" Kankuro raised a brow, "So, where did you get that hoodie?"

"Eh?"

"The one you're wearing."

The redhead glanced down at his torso, catching sight of the jade-coloured fabric. In all honesty, he'd forgotten he was wearing it. A sliver of embarrassment pricked at his chest, a little humiliated that Kankuro had caught him wearing another boy's jacket (though it was probably obvious it didn't belong to him in the first place- the hoodie was on the large side and tumbled off one of Gaara's shoulders). However, he liked that it was soft and cosy; there were faint wisps of lemon and pine in its scent that made it smell like Lee, made him smell of Lee.

"It was raining," Gaara mumbled, "and Lee didn't want me to get wet."

"So he grabbed your shoulders, looked deep into your eyes, and said: 'Oh, Gaara, you are too fragile to let the rain dampen your exquisite beauty! Here, take my hoodie, as a token of my affections!'" Kankuro pranced around the room, laughing and batting his lashes and making puppy-eyes at the camera in a pathetic imitation of Lee. Gaara rolled his eyes, his blush growing more severe.

"I think you'll find that Lee doesn't act like fairy-tale princess."

"Is he more of a knight in shining armour, then? Because I can do that, too."

"Shut up!" Burying his face in his hands, Gaara groaned loudly when Kankuro only cackled harder. "Whatever's between Lee and I- and trust me when I say I have no idea what it is- has nothing to do with pissing off our Father."

"Look, just hear me out." A sound of the door opening and footsteps was broken and irregular as Skype's programming tried to keep the focus on Kankuro's speech. Gaara noticed Akamaru hop onto the bed behind him, and his brother scratched him behind the ear lazily. "There's no question that Dad's a complete homophobe. So, why not kill two birds with one stone? You'll get to have fun with your hunky man crush, and the old man will writhe in embarrassment at his son being so openly gay."

"Won't he just kick me out like he did to you?"

"You're the family heir, remember? Besides, Temari and I have failed to stand up against him. It's all on your shoulders now, little brother." Kankuro looked up as Kiba walked in, blinking at the webcam before flashing Gaara a smile.

"Hey, Gaara. What are you two talking about?"

"I'm trying to convince him to ask out this guy he's been crushing on. To get revenge on Dad." Kankuro replied.

"Seems a little risky, but I like it." Kiba grinned, "Not to mention that the press are gonna love how your Dad responds to having an openly gay son. Maybe you'll trigger a lot of support on your side for LGBT equality."

"Which will make taking his place as the mayor easier." His brother pointed out.

"Enough!" Gaara exclaimed, frustrated, "I am _not_ using Lee as a means to retaliate against our Father!"

"You won't be _using_ Lee," Kankuro said slowly,  "you'll simply be able to enjoy dating him while also pissing off Dad to the extreme."

"Besides," Kiba added, slinging his arms around his boyfriend's neck and resting his head on his shoulder, "rebelling against Rasa is only really an excuse to ask him out. You and this 'Lee' guy would probably end up fucking each other regardless. You have chemistry."

Seething (and also very red at the previous comment), Gaara flung his head down in defeat. "Okay, look, I'll ask him to the gallery open as a friend. Whatever happens between Lee and I will have nothing to do with my Father." He paused, a tiny, half-smile forming on his face. "When it comes to embarrassing him, I've got a few other ideas planned."

 

 

 

 

Beads of sweat rolled down Lee's forehead with each heavy puff of breath he released. He threw endless punches and kicks at the training dummy, his body moving with swift ease: it seemed illogical, against every law of science that existed, for someone as muscular and bulky as him to manoeuvre his body in such graceful motions. At some point he'd stripped his shirt off and threw it to the side, too hot and too engrossed in his training to care all that much; the coolness of the lack of clothing on his upper half was nice, anyway.

Especially for Gaara, who had been watching him for quite a while.

He knew, technically, that this was probably considered stalking. But he was so stunned by Lee's determined eyes and exposed chest that he was unable to make him aware of his presence. He was rooted to the spot, unable to do anything except watch and try not to drool.

In all honesty, Gaara had repressed all forms of attraction growing up. This was easy when it came to women, whom he could note their beauty but not necessarily appreciate it- with boys, however, it probably would have been extremely difficult if he didn't grow up in a household that slandered homosexuality. The only times he'd ever been able to dabble on the matter of his gender preference was when him and his siblings would watch superhero movies starring gorgeous actors-cross-athletes; Temari could swoon over their muscular shoulders and handsome smiles very openly, whereas the two brothers would simply sit in silence. Now that he thought about it, Lee was very similar to the men in those films.

Gaara guessed they were his so-called 'type'. Men who were modest and chivalrous, men who could pick you up and spin you around without so much as losing a breath. Yes, guys like those superheroes and his goofy bowl-cut friend were definitely his preference.

But what about Lee?

Was Gaara his type?

The aspiring politician very much doubted it. If Neji was the sort of guy Lee usually went for, Gaara wouldn't have much of a chance: Neji was tall; slender but well-built; an elegant mix of feminine and masculine beauty with his long hair and his chiselled jawline. He was cool and ambitious, athletic and a genius, stoic and yet so gentle with Shikamaru. Gaara could never compare to such a mix of heavenly traits.

But he wouldn't take Lee for granted. He wouldn't cheat on him like Neji did, he'd instead treasure every ounce of Lee's love, even if he himself didn't quite know how to love in return.

Feeling a swell of determination, Gaara took a step forward and cleared his throat.

"Lee," He called, and the said man jumped about a foot in the air with a high-pitched squeal. Flabbergasted, the redhead stared at him with wide eyes. "Lee?" He repeated, with a little more concern.

"Aha- Gaara- it's you-" Lee chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, "sorry, I- uh- sometimes I get too focused on training."

"Did I scare you?"

"No, no! You just startled me a little." Lee grinned at him, then glanced down at his naked chest and realised that he was shirtless. He proceeded to let out another shriek, this time a little louder. "Gah, I'm sorry, Gaara- _I'm so exposed!_ " Whizzing over to the other side of the dojo, he grabbed his shirt from the floor and yanked it over his head, a feverish blush on his cheeks. Once satisfied that he was completely covered up, he offered Gaara a shy smile. "That probably seemed a little dramatic, huh?"

Gaara thought about it for a moment, pushing away the slight disappointment that Lee's abs were out of view. "... I mean, if someone walked in on me shirtless I'd probably be embarrassed as well. Very embarrassed, actually- because I have nothing worth looking at underneath my shirt." _Unlike you,_ he thought.

"I'm sure that's not true, Gaara. You're just being modest." Lee ruffled his hair, as he usually did, and Gaara couldn't help but feel all fuzzy on the inside.

"Are you saying I am worth looking at shirtless?" He asked slowly, and the older man laughed.

"Well, I can't be completely honest because I've never seen you shirtless. But I'm sure you're all good."

"You must have a strange standard for what 'good' looks like."

"Awe, don't be so hard on yourself. I mean, sure, you're not super muscular or anything, but you're tiny and that's cute to me."

"Nice to know you have a soft spot for hobbits." Gaara drawled, and Lee barked with laughter.

"Not gonna deny it- Frodo's a complete sweetheart." 

"True."

They stood in silence for a little while as Lee packed away the training equipment, Gaara watching his every move. "So what brings you to the dojo?" Lee asked.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay, hit me."

Gaara chewed on his lower lip sheepishly, looking away as Lee shut the equipment closet and brushed his hands together in satisfaction. "Do you like art?"

The dark-haired man paused, thinking about it. He frowned a little. "Nnn, I've never really thought about it. I mean, I don't dislike art, by any means, I've just got a pretty short attention span and I normally don't focus on things like that." Lee must have noticed a twinge of disappointment in the redhead's face, because he suddenly smiled very gently. "But, I wouldn't be opposed to learning to appreciate it. Why? Did you want someone to look at art with you?"

Gaara scuffed the tip of his shoe against the floor, not making eye contact. "There's this art gallery opening this evening..." He started, "Naruto has a full day of lectures and my sister is planning her wedding, so I was wondering if you were free."

The most wonderful swerve of bliss shone in Lee's eyes. He ruffled Gaara's hair for the second time. "Of course I'll go with you! Let it be known that I'm always prepared to try out my friends' hobbies!"

"Really?" Gaara stared up at him, feeling his heart pound harder, ignoring the flood of colour rushing to his cheeks when Lee's face seemed to go a similar tone of pink.

"Hey, don't look at me like that." He said, biting his lip.

"Like what?"

"Like you were expecting me to reject you! C'mon, Gaara, you look like a lost puppy or something and it's making me feel all mushy!"

"Sorry." Though his smile was only tiny, Gaara was practically beaming up at Lee. He wasn't expecting any of this to go so well. "So, the opening starts at five-"

"Let's go now!" Lee suggested, "It's only just turned three, so I know it's super early, but we can grab food beforehand. I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" He grabbed the younger man's hand and yanked him out of the dojo, running so fast at the mere thought of food. Forced to keep up with him, Gaara let out a breathless gasp and tugged at Lee's wrist when they made it to the university's exit, causing them to skid to a halt. Turning on his heel, Lee blinked down at him. "Are you okay?"

Gaara remained quiet, swallowing a thick gulp. He pressed his lips together in a thin line. "Does this-" he released a steady exhale before gesturing to their intertwined fingers, "does this mean that this is a date?"

Glancing down at their hands, then looking back at Gaara's flustered expression, Lee tilted his head to the side and gazed at him for what felt like an eternity. The younger man's breaths were becoming so ragged he was preparing for a panic attack to start; until Lee leaned eerily close so their noses were an inch apart.

"Do you want it to be?" He asked in response.

Shuddering at Lee's serious tone, Gaara attempted to look away but found himself stuck in the trance of the dark-haired man's beautiful eyes. His body tensed up at the lack of distance between them, and Gaara found himself answering without being able to think.

"Maybe." Was what eventually slipped out from his mouth. Holding his stare for another good moment, Lee then revealed a bashful grin.

"Then it's a date." He said, and continued to rush him out of the building in search of a decent meal. Gaara found himself smiling stupidly at their entwined hands, his mind filled with so many feelings and emotions that he could only comprehend a single thought:

_Suck on that, Neji._


	5. Week Four {Part Two}

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee and Gaara go on a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written for Valentine's Day.

The baozi was steaming in Gaara's grip and he inhaled the scent of warm dough: each bite was a pleasant infusion of succulent pork and vegetables, a splash of tangy ginger, filling him with a warmth that he couldn't compare to any other food that he had tried. He let out a soft sigh, savouring the taste that lingered on his tongue. "This is so good."

"Isn't it?" Lee grinned, chewing on his own steamed bun. "I've been getting baozi from the same place for years, now. My Mum used to make them for me all the time."

Gaara tilted his head at him, making sure Lee knew he was listening. "Were you two close?"

Lee nodded, "I was extremely lucky that I had such caring parents. My Mum and Dad meant the absolute world to me. They still do, I suppose." He paused, frowning. "I kind of wish that I'd treasured their love a little bit more. You don't realise how much you're going to miss someone until they're gone forever."

The redhead felt his heart sink at Lee's cruelly true words: his mouth opened to ask of his parents' whereabouts, but he decided that the question would probably upset Lee. He glanced down at the baozi in his hands, then looked back up at the older man. "I guess I sort of understand," he started, "my brother, Kankuro, and I- we never really talked that much growing up unless we were complaining about our Father. Now he lives far away, and I really miss him. We speak over Skype as often as we can."

"Did he leave to pursue a career?"

"Not exactly. My Father kicked him out."

"Your Dad sounds more and more lovely the more you talk about him." Lee raised a thick eyebrow and Gaara gave him a tight smile.

"Trust me, if he knew that-" he glanced down at their fingers, still laced together, and cleared his throat shyly, "if he knew that _this_ was going on, he'd drown us both with the angry sweat from his brow alone."

Lee grinned cheerfully. "I'm a good swimmer."

Shaking his head, Gaara swung their entwined hands absent-mindedly and took the final bite from his steamed bun. They'd been waiting outside the gallery for about half an hour now, and the museum had yet to open. "Do you regret deciding to go early now?"

"Nah- it just means we'll get to be the first in."

"But it's cold."

"Eh? Gaara, it's literally just turned October." Lee laughed.

"Look, I hate the cold, alright?" He huffed.

"Ah, so you're a sunny beach kind of guy?"

"I'm a stay in bed and hope nobody bothers me kind of guy." Gaara rolled his eyes when Lee's chuckles grew louder. "It's getting a little more difficult to spend days hiding in my room, though, I have so many responsibilities now I'm surprised I could make space for this."

"What kinds of things are you doing?"

"Well, since I'm the only son left in the house, it's my obligation to take over as mayor and follow in my Father's footsteps. This means that I'm doing a whole lot of classes, studying, and meetings with my Dad's coworkers that I absolutely hate."

"Sounds like you've kind of been forced into that aspiration." Lee said slowly.

Gaara blinked at the floor thoughtfully, thinking it through. "When I was younger, I wanted to be an artist. Or play the violin in a world-renowned orchestra."

"Your Dad wouldn't allow it?"

"Never." Gaara paused. "At first I really hated all this training to take over a job that my Father abuses. But then it began to appeal to me," he looked over at Lee, a warm hue of determination swelling in his turquoise irises, "because if I could become Suna's mayor, I could fix all the problems that he created. I could turn Suna into a united city." He frowned. "People tend to brush over ideas such as community cohesion, religious pluralism, LGBT rights as well- but without equality, other political issues seem to magnify to the public."

Lee blinked at him, and Gaara cleared his throat.

"Sorry. I know politics isn't the most interesting subject to talk about."

"No, no!" Lee beamed at him, "It's just interesting to see you so passionate."

"Thank you."

A particularly harsh gust of wind whizzed by them and Gaara released a violent shiver. Lee tutted and laughed.

"It's really not that cold."

"You have twice my body weight in muscle. I have no insulation."

Snorting, Lee tugged at Gaara's hand to pull him closer. "Come here."

The redhead stepped into Lee's space bashfully, unsure what to do when the older man hooked an arm round his waist and held him close. He allowed the older man's breathing to become his music as Lee's heat seeped into him like a warm cup of cocoa, sweet and smooth, and Gaara released a gentle exhale of satisfaction when the shivering stopped. Lee took his obnoxiously bright orange scarf and flung it over the two of them, sealing their embrace with a surge of warmth.

"You know," He said softly, "after the whole thing with Neji, I made a pact with myself to stay single for a while, so I could rebuild my strength before I started dating again." He paused. "But you're making it extremely difficult for me."

Feeling a blush creeping up his cheeks, Gaara pressed his face into Rock Lee's shoulder: partly because the colour of his face embarrassed him, and partly because he wanted to snuggle closer. "Is your 'intrigue' getting in the way of staying single?"

Lee grinned, "Was it really that obvious I was talking about you when I said that?"

"Just a little bit." Gaara swung his arms, unsure what to do with them, until his date took his wrists very gently and positioned them round his neck.

"Try this." He murmured. The redhead trembled a little in Lee's sturdy arms, nervous and flustered, causing Lee to blink at him in concern. Gaara bit his lip.

"I'm cold." He lied.

"Still?"

"Mmm."

"Then I'll have to make you even warmer!"

Lee gave no warning when he squished Gaara even closer to him: the older's hands were locked round his waist; their chests pressed together; his face burrowing under Gaara's chin, every nuzzle causing the hairs on the back of the younger's neck to stand up. Gaara tensed, particularly sensitive in that area, and pressed his lips harshly together when Lee's nose brushed against his exposed collarbone.  "Lee-" he gasped out, shifting the position of his legs so Lee's weight didn't force him over. The said man smiled innocently up at him, blinking his large eyes in a manner that was so effortlessly adorable. Gaara gulped. "Um, your face is kind of-"

"Yes?" Lee asked expectantly, into his neck. His lips hovered against the redhead's delicate neck, and he let out a strange whimper at Lee's low tone buzzing against his skin.

"Nobody really touches me that much. I'm not used to it." He started. Lee only nuzzled closer.

"Uh-huh?"

"Lee, I'm very sensitive-!" The end of Gaara's sentence became almost a squeal, and Lee leaped back in surprise.

"Ah- aha- I'm sorry!" He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm a pretty touchy-feely person."

"Wait-" Gaara rushed back over and shoved his head straight into Lee's chest, flinging his arms round his upper back and gripping at the fabric of the older man's colourful sweater. "I don't mind." He said softly, his shoulders slumping into complete relaxation as Lee began to caress the small of his back. "I'm just not very experienced. You'll have to be gentle with me."

"Ah..." Lee's face flooded with colour. Gaara didn't seem to catch on to the unintentional innuendo. "Um, sure, I'll be, uh- gentle."

"Thank you."

Lee coughed.

 

_('Christ in the House of his Parents')_

 

The painting was about a metre and a half long with an exquisite frame. Gaara glanced over at Lee, who was squinting at the artwork with a thoughtful expression.

"I'm trying to find the hidden meaning." Lee said, "Every painting has one, right? But I'm struggling. This is literally a painting of a boy who's scratched his hand."

"Yes." Gaara gestured forward at the painting. "Keep going. What else do you see?"

"Well, his family seem pretty concerned about it."

"Go on."

"Um..."

Gaara offered him a patient touch on the shoulder. "Need help?"

"Please."

The younger man took a few steps closer to the painting, tugging Lee with him by their clasped hands. "Read the title."

Leaning towards the engraved plaque below the painting, Lee squinted at the words. "Christ in the House of his Parents." He read.

"So...?"

"... Nope. Nothing."

Rolling his eyes with a tiny half-smile, Gaara pointed to the boy in the centre of the painting. "Jesus."

"Yes."

The redhead bit back a laugh. "Figured out the meaning yet?"

"No."

"Want me to explain?"

"Please." Lee grinned.

"Okay, so, this is Jesus as a child. He's in Joseph's workshop, and he's cut his hand on a nail. Now, what happened when Jesus was killed?"

"He was nailed to a cross."

"Exactly."

"So...?"

"It's foreshadowing." Gaara explained, "There's all sorts of biblical references in this painting. The boy on the right side is John the Baptist. Who was he?"

"He baptised Jesus."

"Yes. And in this painting, he's carrying a bowl of water to wash the blood off of Jesus's hand. There's also a bird on the ladder."

"A pigeon?"

Gaara forced every bone in his body to restrain him from laughing, his cheeks swelling up from suppressed smiles. "A dove."

"Oh. _Oh-_ the holy spirit!"

"Well done." Gaara cracked a small smile.

"Shut up." Lee elbowed him in the side when he finally let out a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand to mask the volume. Lee shook his head with a smirk. "Look, I was never that interested in learning about a religion that deems me as an abomination for being gay."

"You know not all Christians are homophobes."

"The smart ones aren't."

Gaara smiled at that. He then proceeded to look back up at the painting, marvelling at it. "This got a whole lot of negativity when it was first shown to the public. People really didn't like it. Charles Dickens hated it."

"Why?" Lee's large eyebrows furrowed.

"Because it's realistic. Back then, any artwork that included Jesus, his mother, or any other religious figure, was drawn in a way that was sanctified and idealistic."

"But that's the point, right? Jesus and the saints and stuff- they're holy. Barely human."

"But is that relatable?"

When Lee looked confused, Gaara elaborated.

"In Christianity, we're supposed to see Jesus as a friend, or a family member. But how are we supposed to make this deep connection when the son of God is depicted as too divine for any human to understand?" He gestured again to the oil painting of Jesus, "In this art, you can see the scrapes and blemishes and inflamed veins of each person in it. Joseph has spots of tan on his arms from working in the sun, Mary isn't supernaturally beautiful, Jesus has been hurt while playing like any other child would. While that doesn't necessarily seem holy, it is realistic. It's something we relate to."

When Gaara looked back at Lee, he was staring at him. Gaara's eyes went wide, and a faint blush dusted his cheeks.

"What?"

Lee smiled. "I just like listening to you talk."

Gaara's face flushed darker. "Shut up."

Lee laughed and released their hands so he could slide an arm round Gaara's waist. "Was that all the paintings you wanted to look at? I swear we've stared mindlessly at over a hundred by now."

"Good thing none of them were Da Vinci. I could stare at his work for days."

"And what makes him so special?"

"Nothing really, just that he was an incredible artist, inventor, and the symbol of Renaissance Italy. Oh- and he was probably gay. Men are always more attractive when you know they're playing for the same team."

"He literally died, like, five-hundred years ago!"

"So you do know him!" Gaara jabbed his finger into Lee's chest in mock accusation, and the older man shrugged.

"I've played Assassin's Creed."

"You've played what?"

"I've really got a lot to teach you."

They laughed together as they left the gallery, fingers entwined again, arms swinging hands that were laced together. The sky had faded into a blur of pastel pinks and oranges, seasoned with tinges of grey clouds; the air had grown colder since they'd entered the museum, and Gaara found himself automatically shuffling closer to his date in a craving for more body heat. Lee tossed his scarf round them both for the second time that day and grasped his hand tighter.

"Hey, I'm not sure if you needed to get home or anything- but I wouldn't mind staying out with you a bit later." He said, and Gaara squeezed his hand.

"I'd really like us to stay together for a little longer. If that's okay with you?"

Lee smiled. "Of course it is."

They wandered down further into the city, cold fingers laced together, not caring that the sky was growing darker as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Lee guided him through dense crowds of chatting people and adolescent couples saying romantic goodbyes before they returned home. Electric blues and reds shone in the dusk, hanzi characters flashing on signs as they entered the streets of Chinatown: Lee gestured to all the stalls and traditional shops and talked restlessly about them with enthusiasm that made Gaara feel warm and fuzzy. The younger man bought them both sesame buns (after a full ten minutes of arguing over who should pay) and they seated themselves on a bench by the fountain, taking in the pigments of bright colours against the darkness of the night. They would sometimes fall into comfortable silence as they chewed on their desserts, and then Lee would make a cheerful comment and get them into conversation again. Gaara found himself growing used to the feeling of the martial arts student being so close to him; he dreaded the thought of going home without Lee at his side. 

Sometimes Gaara would glance over at Lee to find that the older man was already gazing back at him. Sometimes Lee would glance over and catch him staring. Then they'd smile bashfully and look down at their laps before they'd find something else to talk about.

"Do you ever get worried someone will catch us?" Lee asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Your Dad would go insane if he knew that you weren't straight, right?"

"Let them see." Gaara said, resting his head on Lee's shoulder and yawning. "I really don't care anymore."

The dark-haired man lifted a hand to pet Gaara's hair, circling his fingers against his scalp. Gaara sighed happily and found himself drifting, losing all focus, stuck in a dream world where him and Lee could stay on the bench by the fountain forever. After a moment of thoughtless breathing, Lee nudged him gently.

"Hey," He murmured, "are you tired?"

"A bit."

"C'mon, I'll take you home."

Gaara let out a whine of protest and Lee rolled his eyes, smirking.

"Don't make me carry you."

Another whine, and the redhead pulled himself up until he was standing. "I'm up."

"I'll walk you home."

"You don't have to."

"I want to."

"But I don't want to walk."

"Sure." Lee crouched down and grabbed Gaara by the legs, hoisting him up onto his back. The redhead let out a shout of protest and Lee laughed loudly, spinning round until Gaara was too dizzy to argue.

"You just focus on giving me the right directions, yeah?"

Gaara grumbled in defeated agreement.

The journey wasn't too long, thank God, and Lee had soon reached the top of the hill where the Sabaku No's manor stood tall and proud. Gaara had rested his cheek on Lee's back during the trek, watching the houses of upper-class families go by; though he didn't like to admit it, it made him rather sad when Lee lifted him back down to the ground.

"Thank you for joining me." Gaara rocked back and fourth on the balls of his heels, chewing his lip. "I had a really good time. I can't remember the last time I was this happy."

Lee grinned at him and ruffled his mop of scarlet hair affectionately. "Don't mention it. Let's do it again sometime, okay?"

Gaara nodded, giving him a grateful smile, and gestured to the door. "I'd best get to bed."

"Right, right-" The martial arts student brushed a lock of hair out of Gaara's eyes, exposing the left side of his forehead. He paused, as if thinking through a very important decision; then he slid his fingers under Gaara's chin and tilted his head up, so he could lean down and press his lips to his forehead. "Goodnight, Gaara." He whispered, before flashing him a smile and turning to leave.

Awestruck, the young politician touched a finger to his head as Lee made his way down the front path. Gaara felt a smile blossom on his lips as he caressed the spot where Lee had kissed him, savouring the memory. Lost in the moment, the young man jumped when he heard Lee call to him once more from the end of his yard.

"Sweet dreams!" He yelled enthusiastically, his large eyes glittering as he pressed both hands to his mouth before flinging his arms back out: blowing Gaara a large and rather sappy air-kiss. Gaara's heart was soaring. He blew a shy kiss back, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering dizzily when a blush formed on Lee's face. Lee saluted and flashed him a final smile before taking off down the hill.

Gaara knew that his Father would yell at him for staying out late. He knew that he'd be suspicious and insult him in ways that were unnecessary, and Temari would scold him for setting himself up for trouble. He knew that  for the next few months he was going to be forced into spending time with a fiance that he did not know, nor care for: but he was incapable of worrying.

While it was no lip kiss, Lee had kissed him no less.


	6. Week Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naruto and Tenten take Gaara out shopping for an outfit that would infuriate his father. Naruto ends up taking them to a strange beauty parlour, where he asks a distant relative to give his red-haired friend some outgoing piercings.
> 
> A few days later, Gaara and Ino bond during a smoke break. Lee is training hard for the taijutsu championships, and asks Gaara for help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry if my Italian is bad.

_I won't be able to talk today, Naruto and Tenten are taking me out shopping._

Gaara sent the text message to his older brother, then stowed away his phone in the pocket of his jeans. Naruto glanced at him from behind a clothing rack.

"So, what kind of things are we looking for?" He asked.

"Something that would infuriate my Father and horrify a possible future wife."

"Future _what?_ " Naruto's loud voice echoed throughout the store, his yell smothering the awkward non-copyright music that hummed in the background. A sour-looking woman with her children shot them a glare. Naruto didn't seem to pay much attention. "Explain, now!"

Gaara shrugged, as if the situation was no big deal at all. "My Dad's got me engaged to someone."

"Who?" Tenten asked, and the redhead shook his head in response.

"No clue. Either way, I decided now would be a good time to stand up for myself. I'm not marrying some woman I've never met."

"What if they were a man?" Naruto grinned.

"Please, as if my Father would be open-minded to my gender preference."

"And Lee would be pretty mad if his boyfriend willingly married another person." Tenten grinned.

"He's not my boyfriend," The redhead grumbled as his friends snickered in the front seat, "we've been on one date."

The brown-haired girl shoved a fistful of garments for him to try on into his arms and raised her eyebrows. "Dude, I heard him call you _'mi amore'_ yesterday."

"Maybe he uses Italian terms of endearment for everyone."

"He sure doesn't kiss all of his friends' foreheads to say goodbye." Naruto chipped in.

"Listen, I'm new to dating altogether- how am I supposed to know how to label Lee and I's relationship?" Rolling his eyes, Gaara glared at the his friends as they tossed clothes to one another, asking each others' opinions. "What type of outfit do you think would be best for me, anyway?"

"I think we should take that whole edgy-punk-rock thing to the extreme- maybe throw a little lolita into the mix as well." Tenten had turned to the accessories rack and had already mustered an impressive collection of chokers, beanies, and fingerless gloves.

"Think feisty K-Pop idol." Naruto added; he threw Gaara a skirt, of all things, and the young man gawked at it in bewilderment. "Y'know, like CL. Or maybe Lisa or Jennie from BlackPink."

"Who?" Gaara wheezed, still staring at the skirt: it was tartan, with many layers of mesh underneath, and must have only been a few inches long. Gaara swore under his breath at the idea wearing it.

"Just hush for now, okay?" Tenten cooed, slapping his back a little too hard. "Go try them all on and we'll see what's the most outrageous."

"It can't be too ridiculous, though." The redhead slipped behind the curtain with his bundle of clothes and began to strip off his shirt, throwing the tee across the top of the changing cubical. "The meeting with my so-called 'fiance' finishes just before the first round of the taijutsu championships, and I don't want to miss it. I promised Lee I'd be there to support him."

"And just when I thought you were going to cheer me on." Tenten mimed tears running down her face with a mock-sniffle. "Which clothes are you trying first?"

"I'm currently putting on the white long-sleeved shirt."

"The button-up blouse?"

"Wait, was this supposed to be for a girl?"

"Aha-" Tenten and Naruto stifled their laughter on the other side of the curtain, "well-"

"Oh, whatever. Just tell me what to pair it with."

"Try the black shorts with the stockings." Tenten mused.

"Shoes?"

"The platformed boots."

Gaara searched for the right garments and changed swiftly, grumbling at the unpleasant itch from the lace that decorated the top of the stockings. When he stepped out from behind the curtain, Tenten's eyes sparkled and she clapped enthusiastically- Naruto didn't look so impressed.

"I think we should try something else."

"What?!" The brown-haired girl's jaw dropped and she grabbed Naruto's chin, forcing him to stare directly at Gaara. "How can you not love this? Look how great those shorts make Gaara's ass look!"

Oblivious to their hissed conflict, Gaara circled round in the foreign clothes, wobbling in the platformed boots. "I don't think I'll be able to walk in these."

"Yeah, but don't you think he looks kind of..." Naruto made concerned gestures and ignored his struggling friend, "um, slutty?"

"Tch. There's nothing wrong with looking slutty!"

"No, I know- but I've never seen Gaara show so much _leg_."

"Guys, my thighs are getting cold." The young politician complained. They ignored him once more.

"So what? I think his legs look pretty damn good!"

"But that's my point!" Naruto took her by the shoulders and shook her violently. " _What if his fiance likes it?!_ "

"Oh. Good point."

"These stockings itch." Gaara interjected.

"Okay, plan B!" Tenten ushered the poor redhead back into the cubical. Searching through the pile of clothes, she picked out a load of black fabrics and shoved them his way. "Try these."

"Alright..." Gaara grasped the hangers uncertainly as his friend pulled the curtain shut. Everything he pulled over his body was notably dark, heavy, and very tight; but at least they didn't itch. Lacing up a pair of Doc Martens, the young man adjusted the hem of his shirt before revealing himself to his two expectant friends.

"Yes." Naruto breathed, brushing a hand over the air in front of him as if to pet Gaara's very aura. "Yes." He repeated.

"Don't just stand there! Look at yourself!" Tenten grabbed him by the shoulders, making him jump, and swivelled him round to face the full-length mirror in the corner. Gaara's reflection blinked at him.

The black combat boots presented an immediate correlation to the charcoal-coloured ripped jeans that hugged his legs rather flatteringly. They ended at his waist, sealed in place with a silver belt, studded with chains that hung round his hips; above that was a black top, cropped, revealing the lower section of Gaara's ribs and stomach. White fishnet was layered on top of it, contrasting against its dark colour, reaching its hem high on his neck with a thicker strip of white fabric. The bomber jacket Tenten had picked out of him was far too large, hanging off his shoulders, just above his elbows- however, the oversized style made him look effortlessly _good_. The outfit gave Gaara such confidence with how well it hugged his body: even though it was the most outgoing clothing he'd ever worn and it didn't exude any forms of masculinity. But he kind of liked that.

"I mean..." Gaara turned in various directions, observing his reflection at different angles. "If this outfit doesn't scream 'gay' then I'm not sure what will. My Father will hate it for sure."

"And how do you feel wearing it?" Tenten asked slowly.

He paused, taking a moment to stare a little longer. "Like a feisty K-Pop idol."

"Perfect!" She grinned.

"Wait, wait. There's something missing."

"Oh, come on!" Tenten whined at Naruto's comment, elbowing him in the ribs. "He looks great! And the jeans make his butt look even better than the shorts did!" She gave Gaara a hefty slap on the ass and the redhead yelped in surprise and embarrassment. 

"Hmm..." Naruto stroked his chin thoughtfully, squinting at the younger man as he rubbed his sore behind. Then, he snapped his fingers. "Got it. Everyone, follow me!"

 

_(Gaara's outfit was based on Lisa //second left// from BlackPink)_

_  
_

 

After paying for a sum of clothes that were almost as expensive as Gaara's tuition, Naruto rushed them out of the store and into a parlour that he couldn't see the name of; he only managed to catch a strange-looking logo of a white and red cloud above the shop. Once inside, the three were greeted by jet black walls and muffled rock music. A bored looking woman with sapphire-coloured hair sat with her chin in one hand as a man twirled her oceanic locks into a fancy updo, chatting relentlessly.

"And so I told Sasori not to make the lip rings with titanium, because surgical stainless steel looks far better! But oh, no, Mister oh-so Artistic decided to ignore my infallible logic- man, he pisses me off!"

"Does he infuriate you this much when he's in your bed, Deidara?" The woman drawled.

"Eh? He's, like, older than thirty! Gross!"

When they stepped up to the counter, the lady with blue hair didn't even look up to greet them. "Welcome to The Akatsuki. Here we offer a wide variety of beauty treatments such as nail painting, face masks, waxing, hair styling, tattoos, piercings; and many, many more." Her voice remained completely monotone and her face expressed such boredom that Gaara almost felt sorry for her. "Today is 'Waxing Deal Wednesday'. If you purchase an appointment for any beauty treatment then you will get a Brazilian wax for free."

The redhead looked at his friends with a confused frown, and Naruto shook his head violently in response. The woman continued.

"Also, this fish is available for purchase for only three ninety-nine." She pointed to a round tank on the desk in front of her: inside, a vibrantly coloured fish floated in repeated, dopey circles. The blonde man gasped behind her.

"You can't sell Kisame!" He cried, grabbing the bowl and cuddling it close to his chest. "Especially not for three ninety-nine! He's an elephant ear half-moon betta- do you know how expensive they are?!"

"Okay, fine." She looked back up at the three friends. "It's yours for two dollars."

"He's not for sale!" The blonde man scowled at her, placing the tank back down on the desk as delicately as possible. He then turned to Naruto, head tilted, one hand on his hip. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Naruto cleared his throat, "um, is Nagato around?"

"Un." He grunted, turning on his heel and gesturing for the three to follow. He led them through a curtain of ruby-coloured beads into a room that looked like it was made with vampires in consideration: dark walls, no windows; the wooden flooring polished a few shades darker than maroon. Mirrors littered the walls, each arranged above a styling chair with a hairdryer hung up beside it. There were all sorts of tools and contraptions laying around the parlour: scissors, straighteners, tattoo guns, nail polish and nail files- Gaara was beginning to fear what Naruto was planning. The blonde man proceeded forward until they were stood behind a tall guy who was bent over one of the tables, fiddling with a piercing gun. "Hey, boss, we've got a few kids asking for you."

The man made a mumble of acknowledgement before turning around. Tenten audibly gasped, and Gaara's stomach knotted. He had very peculiar-looking eyes: the irises were a deep purple, and extended so far across his eyes that there seemed to be no white in them at all. Gaara assumed they were particularly quirky contact lenses, unable to believe that someone could be born with a violet gaze. He had orange hair that stuck up at odd angles and a long, black jacket: but the most distinguishable features of the man were his piercings. Gaara counted at least twelve on his face alone; they ran up the bridge of his nose, along his ears, two of them right below his lips. Black, diamond-shaped studs.

Suddenly, Gaara was painfully aware what Naruto was planning.

Blinking at them, the man tilted his head. "Hello, Naruto. What brings you here?"

"I need piercings. Like, a lot of them." The blonde grinned.

"Really?" He folded his arms and cocked his hip to one side, an orange eyebrow raised. "What are you going to pay me with? Your parents told me recently that they were holding back your allowance after you crashed their car into a tree. And my piercings aren't cheap, either."

"No, not for me! For him!" Naruto pointed over at Gaara, who swallowed thickly.

"I never agreed to this, Uzumaki."

"How do you even know this guy?" Tenten asked, bewildered, and Naruto waved his hands in nonchalant manner.

"Distant relatives. Anyway, we've bought him this amazing punk-fetish outfit thing to wear so he can piss off his asshole Dad."

"Describe it to me." Nagato was staring at Gaara with a chilling level of focus, stroking his chin as if having an artistic vision.

"Combat boots, ripped black jeans with chains and studs that make his ass look astronomically amazing-"

"Tenten..." Gaara felt heat rising to his face. The brunette ignored him.

"A black crop top covered with white fishnet and an oversized jacket."

"I see, I see." The man gazed for a while longer, nodding slowly, before snapping his fingers in the direction of a styling chair. "Sit."

Before he could protest, two hands grabbed him firmly by the shoulders and pushed him down into the seat. When Gaara looked up, the blonde man stared down at him, a sly grin tugging at his lips. "Y'know," He started, twirling a strand of the boy's scarlet hair round his finger, "I have a thing for redheads."

"Wha-"

"Paws off, Deidara." A fist flung out and smacked the blonde guy across the face, causing him to hiss in protest and release Gaara's shoulders- much to his appreciation. A tiny man moved into his line of view, notebook in hand, flicking the pages forward until he could find a fresh one. With a small sigh, he looked up at him: brown eyes clashing with turquoise.

"Name three of your favourite colours." He stated. Gaara blinked.

"Black, white, and red."

"Studs or rings?"

"Um-"

"Studs." Naruto answered for him.

"Fine." He snapped the notebook shut. "I'll pick out some piercings from my collection. I'm sure you won't be disappointed with my designs."

"Oi, Sasori!" Deidara scowled, walking over to jab him in the chest accusingly, "The studs I created will suit him much better than yours! I vote we give him some from _my_ collection."

Sasori stared at the man steadily, no signs of submission in his coffee-coloured eyes. He pushed a lock of red hair behind his ear and raised a brow at him in a silent challenge; Deidara seemed to weaken, a tinge of pink sweeping over his nose and cheeks as he scoffed and turned away.

"Whatever, _danna_. I'll go get your damn studs."

With a victorious smirk, Sasori offered Gaara a somewhat consoling look as the blonde man stalked away. "Ignore him. Sometimes I think Deidara will fuck anything with red hair and a hole."

Gaara tried to nod to show an understanding that he didn't actually have, but all he could focus on was one recurring thought circling his mind: _what the hell is wrong with these people?_

"He actually flirted with me a whole lot when I gave him an interview." Nagato shrugged, readying his piercing gun by sterilising the needle inside. "I'm actually a natural redhead as well- but I think he was just chatting me up so I'd give him the job." He pressed the trigger of the gun a few times, causing Gaara to wince at the sight: while the young man was by no means a wuss, he wasn't exactly prepared for a million piercings that he hadn't consented to. Tenten patted him on the shoulder with an encouraging smile.

"They'll look incredible on you. Trust me, okay?"

Gaara didn't trust Tenten at all. But if a few ear and lip piercings would piss off his Father to oblivion and back, maybe it would be worth it.

Nagato had wiped his ears with alcohol swabs and marked several dots  with a surgical pen. "Any questions?" He asked, lining the gun up with his lobe. Gaara released a slow exhale, ignoring the hitches in his breath and the blood rushing to his head.

"Will it hurt?"

"They call me 'Pain' in the business for a reason, kiddo."

 _How reassuring,_ Gaara thought sarcastically, then proceeded to take a deep breath.

"Do it. I'm ready."

And Nagato pulled the trigger.

 

 

 

 

Gaara's ears were throbbing, and the skin below his mouth had gone an irritated shade of pink. He looked at himself uncertainly in the rear-view mirror of his car, prodding at the studs on his lower lip and wincing. Nagato had given him three piercings on each ear: a standard lobe, an upper lobe, and a helix. The young politician had also ended up with snakebites, after losing an argument with his friends about it that lasted so long Nagato was late for his next appointment. They, out of all the piercings, stung the most.

However, Gaara had to give credit to Sasori for his hand-crafted earrings. The standard lobe studs he gave him were by far his favourite; a dark silver outlined in black, shaped like traditional Celtic crosses with a deep red gem in the centre. The studs on his upper lobe were a similar shade of shining grey, and the rings on his cartilages were simply black. His snakebites were small, subtle and yet accentuated, round and silver. Because Naruto seemed to know Nagato reasonably well, he managed to wrangle him a discount: but they were still undeniably expensive. 

A day had passed since the shopping trip, so at least his mouth and ears weren't as red and swollen as they were previously. Even so, Gaara had dabbed a little foundation (the shade was 'light porcelain', aka pale-ass albino) over the irritated patches of skin just to be safe. Before he left The Akatsuki parlour the day before, Deidara had suavely offered to teach him some pretty helpful makeup tips- he'd flirted relentlessly as he showed him how to execute a smokey eye, and while Gaara appreciated the help he certainly did not appreciate the sleazy pickup lines. The guy also had hair that was strangely similar to Ino's, which freaked him out a little bit.

So, the student politician had showed up to the university that day in a well-tailored suit (as was required by the college's uniform code), his new piercings and cat eyeliner. And though the dark eye makeup and the studs on his lip looked a little alien with his business tux, Gaara didn't hate it as much as he thought he would.

When he walked up to the door, Ino was stood outside. Her jaw dropped when she saw him.

"Holy shit," she breathed, and Gaara cringed in embarrassment, "you look so..."

"Weird?" He asked.

"Hot!" She finished, beaming at him, grabbing his face with her hands and examining him closely. The redhead rolled his eyes, wondering how he managed to get a group of friends that were so intent on touching him all the time. "What the hell, Gaara, why would you think you look weird? Whose decision even was it to get all those piercings?"

"Naruto and Tenten kind of forced me into it." He said, and Ino grinned.

"Those fuckers." She giggled, nudging him in the ribs and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Want a cig?" She asked, and Gaara nodded, allowing her to pop one in his mouth and light it for him. They stood close to each other in the chilling October air, breathing out puffs of smoke that were whisked away by the harsh wind. Ino continued to eye him as Gaara flicked his cigarette to the ground, stamping out the embers with the toe of his shoe. "Did the eye makeup take you long?" She teased.

"Why do you think I'm in later than usual?"

"Well, it payed off. How in God's name did you smoke it out so well?"

He shrugged. "I watched a load of eyeliner tutorials last night. I lost count how many videos I'd watched after two AM."

"That's a lot of YouTube for just one late night."

"It happens a lot more often than you'd think."

Ino laughed, and a small smile crept on to the young man's face. They stood in silence for a while longer, watching the wind rustle through the trees in the early-morning sun; then, Gaara spoke up.

"Thanks."

The blonde girl blinked up at him, eyebrows raised. "For what?"

"The compliments. And the cigarette." He nodded his head pointedly. "And for calling me hot."

Ino stared at him for a long time. Then, her eyes softened. A pink blush dusted her cheeks as she bumped Gaara's shoulder with hers, a happy smile gracing her lips. "You're a good guy, Gaara." She said softly, before grinning into the distance, tapping her chin in a thoughtful manner. "Ah, the things I'd do to you if you were straight."

Gaara's eyes went wide and he shot his friend a shocked look. "Wait, I never said I was-"

"You can't hide things from me, Sabaku no Gaara," She waggled a finger in his face with her eyebrows raised suggestively, "I mean, it's not like I'm one-hundred percent hetero myself." She laughed, pulling out another cigarette and shoving him away playfully. "Go on- I know you're dying to go visit Lee. He's in the dojo."

Raising his hands in submission, Gaara chuckled very quietly and went to leave for the dojo. He paused, eyes lingering on the girl a while longer, knowing fully well that she was going stay outside for quite a while longer, or at least until she ran out of cigarettes. Gaara took the cold temperature in consideration, then glanced at Ino's arms: bare, and seasoned with goosebumps. He could also see the remnants of faded bruises across her skin, obviously from the unforgiving hand of her on-and-off boyfriend.

Now that he thought about it, Ino truly reminded Gaara of his sister.

Walking back towards her, the redhead stripped off his reefer coat and lay it over her shoulders, tucking it round her neck so it wouldn't fall. Ino stared at him, astounded, sapphire irises riddled with too many emotions. Gaara just stuck two fingers up in a farewell-salute.

"Don't stay outside too long." He said, and left to enter the building. When he glanced back, he saw that she had tugged the coat around herself tighter, a tearful smile on her face. Gaara wondered if Ino had ever received so much care from a man before.

The thought made his heart sadden.

 

 

 

When Gaara entered the dojo, only Lee was there. He was facing away from the younger man, on the floor, doing push ups. When he heard the door click open, he didn't stop.

"Who is it?" He called, hints of fatigue in his cheerful tone.

"Me." Gaara responded.

"Who's 'me'?"

" _'Mi amore'_." He quoted Lee's pet-name for him, and the older man smiled.

"Ah, good morning, Gaara! I'm sorry, I'd get up to greet you but I must train extra hard for the taijutsu championships!" He paused his speech, still continuing his push ups. "Hey, will you help me? I need some extra weight."

"Sure." Gaara dropped his satchel by the door and meandered over to him, stopping at his side to fold his arms. "What do you want me to do?"

Lee dropped to a laying position on the floor. He then pointed to his back. "Sit."

Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow. "On top of you?"

"Yeah!" Lee gave him a sappy grin. "C'mon, please!" He begged, raising his hands to make puppy ears above his head. Gaara rolled his eyes with a small smile.

"Mm, alright. But if I fall off, you're dead to me."

"Don't say that!" Lee pouted as Gaara lowered himself onto the older man's back, adjusting into a cross-legged position. He was impressed when Lee made no reaction to the extra weight on his back.

"I'm kidding. You're already dead to me."

"Gaaraaaaa~" Lee whined, and the said man pressed his face into the back of Lee's head, nuzzling into his ebony bowl-cut and placing a kiss there.

"I'm _kidding_." Gaara encouraged, and Lee's cheeks heated up.

"Now you've made me forget what I'm doing." He grumbled, and Gaara sat up straight again.

"Push ups." He reminded.

"Right!" Lee positioned his hands flat on the floor, preparing to force himself upwards. "Will you count for me?"

"Mhm."

"Great!"

Lee started on his workout, and Gaara pulled out his phone to check his notifications; as he moved up and down with every push up Lee executed, he deleted another spam email, counting aloud every time the taijutsu student completed another rep.

At Lee's twentieth push up, Gaara had grown bored. So, he opened his camera app and flipped it round so he could see himself, taking a few seconds to check himself out in the screen. He then held the phone out to the side, angling it above him ever so slightly, and began to take selfies on Lee's back. He tried out a variety of poses: giving a peace sign; pouting his lips; winking; even sticking his tongue out between two fingers in a scandalous gesture that made him smirk when he looked back on it.

Ino was right- the piercings and eyeliner did make him look hot.

"Hey, Gaara!" Lee wheezed. "You stopped counting!"

"You're on fifty-three." Gaara replied, scrolling back over the pictures he'd just taken. In one of the selfies, Lee's face was in the frame; slightly blurred but hilarious nonetheless, the Lee in the photo was bright red and sweating, his face contorted into a deliciously humorous mix of rage and determination. The young man pinched the screen, zooming in closer to Lee's face, and snorted out loud at the sight of it.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing. You've now done seventy-two." The redhead took a screenshot of the enlarged photo and went about setting it as his phone's background. He stifled a laugh when the entire display was filled with Lee's dopey workout face.

"Am I near a hundred yet?" Lee gasped.

Gaara tucked his phone away in his pocket, continuing to count out loud. "Ninety-six... ninety-seven..."

Lee was breathing rapidly, making small grunts as he drained every last drop of energy into reaching his goal.

"Ninety-eight... ninety-nine..."

The dark-haired man did his final push up before collapsing to the floor with a loud groan, sweat glistening on the back of his neck and dampening his workout tank.

"One-hundred." Gaara finished, then patted Lee on the side. "I'm impressed."

"Thank you, _mi amore_." Lee grinned lazily, and Gaara shifted off of his back.

"Is that all you know in Italian?" He asked.

"You dare insult my foreign language capabilities?" Lee mock-gasped. "I'll have you know that I'm half Italian!"

"Who taught you?" Gaara asked, watching as the older man grabbed a towel to dab his face with.

"My Mum. She was the Italian one. Dad was Chinese. It's a miracle I can even speak English." Lee laughed a little, turning to face Gaara for the first time that day.

He dropped the towel.

"Wha-" he started, "when- when did you-?"

The student politician rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I've looked like this all morning, Lee. You just haven't noticed until now."

"No, I-" He gazed at Gaara, leaning closer, inspecting him further, "Gaara, you-"

"I know the piercings are a little much. But Naruto and Tenten kind of forced me to get them."

"Gaara," Lee cut him off, and the younger man silenced, "you look so- you're so-"

"What?"

"Beautiful." He finished. Gaara's heart swelled, pounding fiercely in his chest, making him blush hard and hide his face in his hands.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. I mean, you were beautiful before as well, but-"

" _Fottiti_."

Lee's eyes went wide. "Did you just...?"

"Yes," Gaara said, "I told you to 'go fuck yourself' in Italian. I am not beautiful, Lee."

Lee stared at him, charcoal-coloured eyes boring into his. Gaara's stomach felt sick with butterflies, his palms were sweating, and his pulse throbbed loudly in his head. Suddenly, Lee smiled.

"Then..." He began to crawl closer to Gaara, a determined expression on his face, "I will tell you that you're beautiful in Italian until you're too frustrated to disagree!"

"Lee, wait-"

Before he could protest, Lee had pounced on him, pinning the smaller man to floor and tickling him mercilessly. His fingers jabbed at his sides, his neck, his stomach, and Gaara released uncontrollable laughter.

" _Sei bello,_ Gaara~" He grinned, tickling harder when the redhead cried out in giddy protest. " _Sei troppo bello, tu sei bellisimo, sei fottutamente bello~_ " 

"I can't believe-" Gaara wheezed between breaths of laughter, "you refuse to swear in English- but- but in Italian- you have no problem!"

"I am merely saying it to emphasise how beautiful you are! _Sei fottutamente bello~!_ "

"Stop!" Gaara whined, his laughter slowing to breathless giggles when Lee's fingers slid away. Pink in the face, Gaara sighed.

"Fine, I won't disagree with you anymore."

" _Bene._ "

The redhead chuckled at the ridiculous situation he was in, going shy when Lee pressed a kiss to his forehead, a blissful smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The door had suddenly slammed open, causing Lee's head to snap up in surprise.

Stood in the doorway was Neji and Tenten, dressed in their gym clothes, gawking at them: Gaara was still sprawled out on the floor, breathless and pink-cheeked, and Lee was looming on top of him. Neji raised an eyebrow with a frown of distaste. Tenten simply smirked.

"Enjoying Gaara's new lip piercings, Lee?" She asked.

The two blushed.


	7. Week Six {part one}

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After waking up from a rather heated dream, Gaara pours his heart out to his brother before the dreaded meeting with his fiance comes.
> 
> However, Gaara's betrothed is not as difficult as he assumed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains very slightly sexual themes (only a tiny bit), Kankuro being a big softie, flirty LeeGaa banter, and trans!Shira (FTM). I love Shira so much and I wish he was a more important role in the Naruto Universe.
> 
> I AM ALSO VERY SORRY THAT MY ITALIAN ISN'T GOOD-
> 
> AND IF MY REPRESENTATION OF TRANS!SHIRA OFFENDS ANYONE BECAUSE IT'S INACCURATE PLEASE TELL ME I DON'T WANT TO UPSET ANYOOOOOOONEEEE-

_(This is what I imagine Lee and Gaara to look like in my AU. The shitty drawing is by meeeeeeeeeeeeee)_

Strong hands, gentle fingers, gliding over pale skin with low whispers and soft breathing.

Lee was kissing him. Slowly. So slow that it was erotic. He sucked on Gaara's lower lip, tongue sliding over his snakebites, blunt nails digging into his hips every time he released a hitched breath or a shaky sigh. Then their mouths were apart, and Gaara whined in protest as the older man lapped at his jawline, tonguing right up to his ear, tugging at the lobe with his teeth and humming with satisfaction when the redhead released a tiny moan as his breath ghosted over the canal, sending Gaara's senses into manic haywire.

Everything was warm, everything was soft, everything was comforting and safe and all _Lee._

His hips bucked on command when the taijutsu student rolled his groin against his, desperate for contact. A mewl escaped Gaara's lips when his lover sucked hard on his neck, leaving a red-stained hickey that ached with no pain, but pure pleasure. Lee continued to rub their needs against each other at a teasingly steady pace. He bit down on Gaara's skin with a low moan.

" _Ho bisogno di te_ ," He whispered, showering kisses over the other man's chest as he pulled Gaara's shirt away, " _ti amo, Gaara._ "

Gaara's skin throbbed from his raging pulse and the love-bites on his neck. When Lee kissed him again, he sighed against his lips, falling further and further into the feeling of lust and happiness and an emotion that he couldn't identify; an emotion that scared and encouraged him at the same time. Lee broke away, his adoring gaze locking with Gaara's desire-clouded irises.

" _Mi ami?_ " Lee asked.

Gaara opened his mouth to respond.

But then he woke up. And rather viciously.

Skype's generic ringtone blasted against the walls of Gaara's room, knocking him awake and sending him flying off the bed in surprise. Face down on the carpet, the redhead released a muffled groan.

"Fuck..." He grumbled, raising himself off the floor so he could swipe the surroundings for his phone. He caught sight of it, laying atop the comforter on his bed, and stood to reclaim it- only to realise that he was hot, sweating, and unarguably hard. " _Fuck._ " He repeated.

The ringing continued, taunting him, and Gaara glared at Kankuro's call ID on the screen of his phone. Snatching it off his bed, he answered, refusing to turn on his camera: he did not need more reasons for his older brother to tease him.

"Kankuro, I literally just woke up."

"Wha? It's almost nine AM- that's super late for you!"

"I was sleeping pretty deeply." He mumbled, throwing off his sweat-slick shirt. "What do you want?"

"A kitten."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Fuck off."

"Ouch." Kankuro raised an eyebrow at him. "What made you wake up on the wrong side of bed today?"

"I had-" Gaara paused, "I had a weird dream."

"Go on."

"It's not important." He pressed, bringing the phone with him into the en suite bathroom. He set it down on the counter so he could focus on splashing his face with water, trying to cool the fiery hue across his cheeks.

"Can I help at all?"

"No." The redhead pulled a towel off the rack to scrub his face with. Then he paused. "Maybe."

Kankuro raised his eyebrows when Gaara turned the camera on, blinking at his damp hair and pink face. "Nice piercings."

"Don't ask."

"Sure. Now how can I help?"

"I had this dream about Lee," He started, deciding not to mention the hot and heavy details, "he told me he loved me. In Italian."

His brother's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Eh?"

"He's half Italian."

"Sexy."

"Mm." Gaara hummed in agreement. "But what does that mean?"

"Well, now you know that he can talk dirty to you in Italian." Kankuro mused, and his brother shot him a glare.

"No, not that! He told me he loved me, and then asked me if I loved him. And I think I was going to tell him yes. What does that mean?"

The brunette frowned, crossing his legs and resting his chin in his hands: his thoughtful expression was pixelated on Gaara's phone screen. "Well, I can't say that it means you two are actually in love with each other- considering you're not a couple or anything."

Gaara froze. Due to being busy the previous week, he'd been unable to inform his brother that him and Lee had actually gone on a date; and that they'd been pretty inseparable since. Gaara would go straight to the dojo every morning, providing encouragement and support as Lee trained aggressively for the taijutsu championships. They'd then meet at lunch with their friends, and in their free periods they'd wander off alone to sit under the large oak on a forgotten side of campus, huddling together in sharp, Autumn air. When the day ended, Lee would always kiss his forehead in farewell. The young politician bit his lip.

"About that..." He mumbled.

Kankuro's eyes went wide. He flung the comforter off his bed so he could yank himself forward, so close to the webcam that all Gaara could see was the intense stare of his older brother. "You asked him out?!"

"Sort of." Gaara shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I intended on asking him to the gallery opening as a friend. But then he grabbed my hand and suddenly we were on a date."

"When did this happen?"

"Two weeks ago."

"Gaara, you piece of shit! Why didn't you tell me?" He grinned widely, baring cat-like white teeth as he sat cross-legged like a child expecting a bedtime story. "Did you have fun? Did he treat you good? Does he like you?" He gasped. "Did you two _kiss_?"

"Yes, very good, I think so, and no. Not on the lips, at least."

"Where?"

Gaara pointed to the parting in his scarlet fringe, the left side of his head: there was no hair there- only pale skin. "On my forehead, right here. He kisses me there a lot."

"Boring, but still pretty cute." Kankuro stared at the empty space on his temple, blinking slowly, eyebrows furrowed in thought. Suddenly, he whipped out his sketchbook. "Hold still."

"What?"

"Just stay still!" He fumbled around in his bedside drawer for a pencil, then began to make hurried sketches that Gaara couldn't see. "I just got an idea on how to piss off Dad even more!"

"I'm not getting any more piercings." Gaara huffed, and his brother laughed.

"Oh, this is gonna hurt a whole lot more than a few piercings, little bro." The man drew aggressively, the pencil making scratches of noise on the paper, his wrist moving with quick yet artistic preciseness. "So you say he told you loved you? In your dream, at least."

"Yes."

"Hm..." Kankuro made small, thoughtful grunts as his drawing slowed, debating on what to sketch. "Love."

"What?" Gaara asked slowly. Kankuro shook his head.

"What language was it, again?"

"Italian."

"Mm... no, latin characters would look dumb. What about another language instead..."

Gaara squinted at his older brother. At this point, he had absolutely no idea what Kankuro was sketching- and what it had to do with his dream about Lee, or pissing off his father. Kankuro suddenly yelled out in excitement, making Gaara jump in surprise. "Japanese!"

"Kankuro, what the hell are you talking about?"

"No, no, it makes sense! It's artistic, we have a Japanese heritage, and it looks awesome!" He finished the sketch with a few quick flicks of his hand before holding up his drawing for Gaara to see.

The paper was filled mostly with a basic sketch of a head: Gaara's head. Kankuro had managed to capture the basics of his younger brother's facial features; the slim nose, the almond-shaped eyes, the mess of red hair. However, in the normally empty spot on his left side of his forehead, Kankuro had mapped out the kanji for 'love'. The redhead stared at it, bewildered.

"A tattoo?"

Kankuro chuckled awkwardly, running his fingers through the spikes of his brown hair. "Okay, look, I know it's a lot, and you're probably still overwhelmed with all the piercings and stuff-"

"No-" Gaara interjected, "I like it."

"Really?"

"It's interesting. Father told me my whole life that nobody loved me- that I was unlovable." He paused. "But that tattoo would prove to him that that's not true. Because that's where Lee kisses me goodbye everyday."

Kankuro stared at him. Then, he smiled.

"You're exactly like me when I was your age."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Saying that makes you sound so old."

"It's true, though. You've fallen in love so fast."

The younger man chewed on his lower lip, looking away from the webcam to avoid his brother's focused gaze. "I think it's a little early to assume that I'm-" he paused, his heart freezing at the following words, "that I'm in love with Lee." There was a silence that followed that statement, and Gaara frowned. "Granted, I suppose that I don't really know what love feels like in the first place."

Kankuro's eyes softened. "Gaara, love doesn't really arrive after a specific amount of time. Some people take ages to fall for someone- others take a week. Like me."

"How did you know? That you loved Kiba?"

"It's weird," He leaned back, looking at the ceiling as if reminiscing, "it's not all sunshine and flowers like it is in the movies. At the beginning, I hated it. I hated the impact he had on me."

"Why?" Gaara asked. Kankuro locked eyes with him.

"Because it terrified me. I was certain I was straight and then he had to come and mess everything up." He chuckled, shaking his head. "But he was pretty persistent. And then, I liked seeing his stupid face next to me when I woke up in the morning. I liked the way he touched me. I liked that, for the first time, someone was willing to listen and hold me if I was upset. Suddenly he became more important than anything else." A shy smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I think you know you're in love when someone changes your life completely, but you're not upset about it. Kiba has shaped me in so many good ways. He's changed me as a person, and I don't ever want to take that for granted."

"Aww, Kanky, you really think so?" Kiba had entered the room, proceeding to jump on his boyfriend and nuzzle up to him, laughing when Kankuro grumbled.

"You heard all that, didn't you?"

"Maybe you should ask dating advice from your brother more often, Gaara," Kiba grinned, "because he hasn't said anything that sweet to me in a while~"

Gaara smiled a little at the sight, then waved his hands at the camera dismissively. "Okay, okay, thanks for the advice. Please don't make out in front of me."

"You sure? You might learn a thing or two!"

Kankuro responded with a jab at his boyfriend's side. "Later. We're not doing anything in front of my brother."

"You're just embarrassed because you're such a sub."

Kankuro scowled. "Okay. I take back everything I said about loving you."

"Hey, that's not nice!"

The two bickered, and Gaara sighed in affectionate exasperation. "Look, I've got to go. Father's bringing over this woman he wants me to marry."

Kiba had his arm locked round Kankuro's neck and looked as though he was about to give him a noogie. His boyfriend swatted him away. "Good luck, little brother." He waggled his fingers in farewell before Kiba tackled him, and Gaara hung up the call; before he could become witness to their make-up sex.

Gaara released a heavy sigh as he padded back into the bathroom. He pulled out the top left draw beneath the sink and skimmed his fingers over the expensive makeup inside (Deidara had given him a rather large stash, along with a scarily pleasing discount and a flirtatious wink). His phone buzzed, halfway through trying to make a perfect eyeliner wing; his hand staggered and a strip of black makeup splattered down his cheek. Aggravated, he snatched his phone.

Lee had sent him a picture of Tenten, face-down on the floor of the dojo, spread out like a starfish and caked in sweat. While the photo was rather amusing, it was not worth ruining his makeup. Grumbling, he took a close-up selfie of his poorly done eyeliner, his expression unamused, and sent it to Lee with the following caption: _look what you made me do._

Within a few seconds, Lee had responded with a picture of him pulling a kissy-face.

 _Beautiful._ He responded. Gaara blushed and sent him the middle finger emoji.

Redoing his cat eye makeup, he ignored the repeated buzzing of his cellphone for the sake of sulking. When he had finally executed a perfect smokey eye, his phone had vibrated a total of twelve times; all of which were from Rock Lee. When he eventually checked his messages, he sighed at his sort-of-boyfriend's responses.

_Gaara_

_Gaaaraaaa_

_Are you mad at meeeeeee?_

_I'm sorry I ruined your makeup-_

_I think it looks prettyyyyyy <3_

_Gaaaraaaaa_

_Come back-_

_I didn't mean to make you angry_

_Wait_

_Are you playing hard to get?_

_Why am I so attracted to guys that play hard to get?_

_Gaara please come back_

_This is not negoshiable!_

Gaara rolled his eyes and tapped in his reply.

_You spelt negotiable wrong._

And then Lee was calling him. Gaara groaned as the older man's icon flashed on the screen, his peppy ringtone cooing for him to answer. Gaara pressed the green 'answer' button and held his phone to his ear, frowning at himself in the mirror.

"What?"

"Are you playing hard to get?" Lee sing-songed on the other line, and the redhead's frown deepened.

"No. I don't even know what that means."

"It means you're acting all grumpy to get me to try harder for your attention." When Gaara scoffed, Lee continued. "You are playing hard to get, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Gaara couldn't see Lee's face, but he knew that there'd be that stupid grin tugging at his lips.

"I'm not." He mumbled, weakening.

"No? Okay, well, I'm very very sorry for ruining your beautiful eyeliner. How about I bring you over some cookies and an old movie to show how sorry I am?"

"Tempting, tempting." A tiny smile tugged at Gaara's lips. "But I don't know. I'll have to see what my plans are."

"You are playing hard to get!"

"Maybe a little bit." He let a small chuckle escape his lips before making his way out of the bathroom, phone pressed to his ear. "Honestly, cookies and a movie sounds good. But I'm already on a date, remember?"

"Yeah, with some girl who wants to marry you." Lee pouted on the other line.

"For all I know, maybe she doesn't- it was all arranged by our parents. No doubt my Father has a backup fiance as well, just in case this one doesn't work out." There was a moment of silence between the two before Gaara spoke up again. "Hey, I'm not going to be forced into a heterosexual marriage. I'm satisfied keeping my interest in you."

"You make it sound like our relationship is a business arrangement." Lee said, but there was humour in his voice so Gaara smiled.

"It's not. I promise."

"And I trust you, Sabaku no Gaara. Even though we've known each other a total of five weeks."

"Six, now."

"It feels like longer."

"You're so cheesy."

"Don't you like cheese? I'll have you know that I taste great on a pizza!"

Laughing at Lee's ridiculous joke, Gaara stripped off his pyjama bottoms and began to change into the outfit that Tenten and Naruto picked out for him. He could hear Lee's gentle breathing on the other line.

"Are you..." The older man started. "Undressing?"

"Dressing, actually." Gaara corrected.

"Oh." Lee laughed nervously.

"I can undress instead if you'd prefer."

"Ehh? Do not make these jokes with me, Gaara!" The young politician could almost hear Lee blushing furiously, and the thought made him smirk a little.

"Alright."

"Thank you."

"The offer's still there, though."

"Gaara!"

"Lee."

"Stop!"

"You don't like the idea of me undressing?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

"You just did. I appreciate the compliment."

"You seem very comfortable speaking of such-" Lee paused, "... _intimate_ things. Especially considering you're a virgin."

"Who told you I was a virgin?"

"Naruto."

"And why were you asking Naruto about my sex life, might I ask?"

"Wha- he brought it up, I swear!"

"I believe you."

"Thank goodness!"

"But not completely."

" _Gaara!_ "

The said man rolled his eyes, a breath of laughter escaping his lips. "Okay. I'm done."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Good."

"Good."

"... But if you wanted to get undressed-"

"Just go practise, Lee."

"I can't!" Lee whined. "Gai-Sensei says to never practise the same day as a big match because I should be saving my strength!"

"Then why aren't you resting?"

"Because...!" He sighed. "I'm really nervous, okay? And I wanted to hear your voice. It calms me."

"You really are cheesy." Gaara smiled, his cheeks tinged with pink.

"Do you think I'll pass this round?"

"I don't think. I know. You've got a martial arts scholarship for one of the best universities in the country- that takes nothing but talent, Lee."

"I know."

"Then why are you so worried?"

"I wanted you to confirm that you believe in me."

"I do."

"Then that's all I need."

"Shut up."

"Why?"

"Because I'm blushing and I don't like it."

"You'll have to learn to like it, Gaara, because I like making you blush. It's cute." Lee chuckled.

"Shut up." Gaara repeated, deciding not to tell him that he was already a unique shade of pink. "I have to go. She'll be here soon. And I have to talk to my Father."

"Gaara," Lee started, "how is he going to react? To the way you look, now?"

"He won't be happy."

"I know, but..."

The redhead frowned, waiting for the older man to continue. When he didn't, he spoke up again. "Lee, what-"

"Will he hurt you?"

"What?"

"Your dad- will he hurt you?"

Gaara stood for a long moment, staring at his reflection, at the phone in his hand and how Lee was probably in the exact same position as him. He chewed on his lower lip, wondering what this strange feeling in his chest was and why he felt like crying, of all things. He swallowed thickly.

"You're... worried about me?"

"Of course I am." Lee said gently. "Did you expect me not to care? I don't want you to get hurt. Ever."

The younger man was flushing, the desire to just burst into tears overwhelming him. He didn't think, in his entire life, that anyone would express concern for him. Especially not a boy he'd known for a total of six weeks. "You're- you think- my father- Lee-" He spluttered pathetic chains of words that he hoped his sort-of-boyfriend would understand.

"I care about you, Gaara."

The tight feeling in his chest was extreme, now. Sucking him inward, crushing him, until his pulse could be heard in every inch of his body. Tears finally pricked at turquoise irises and he wiped them away furiously with the sleeve of his oversized bomber jacket. Releasing a shaky exhale, Gaara willed the weird mix of sadness and relief away. "Thanks." He said gently. "I... I care about you too."

"Thank you. So promise me you won't let him hurt you."

"I promise." Gaara said, without thinking about it first.

"Good!" Lee chirped. "Now go scare away your fiance!"

 

* * *

 

 

Rasa stared at Gaara.

His eyes ran over the heavy, dark makeup; the piercings; the chains and studs on his jeans; the top that revealed the plain of porcelain-white stomach. Gaara met his gaze, wanting to flinch, but willing himself not to.

His father was not going to scare him.

Raising a non-existent brow, he tilted his head coolly with an aloof expression. "Is there a problem?"

"It's disgraceful." His father spat. "You will not meet your betrothed in _women's clothing_."

"Men's clothing, actually. Because I'm a man, and I'm wearing them." He looked up at the ceiling and shrugged. "But I suppose gender is just a social construct anyway."

"You look disgusting. Like some fairyboy slut- like a faggot."

"Maybe that's what I am, Father."

There was silence, then. Silence and cold, hard staring. Rasa's oak-coloured eyes never left his, unblinking, nostrils flaring, externally calm but internally roaring. Gaara had seen that look before- most recently when he'd caught Kankuro with Kiba. The clock ticked on the wall of the hallway, counting every slow second that passed. It felt like they'd spent hours simply looking at each other.

And then his father took a step forward, so they were an inch apart, so Gaara could feel every single one of Rasa's angry breaths his his cheeks.

"You are not going to end up like your fag brother, Gaara," he growled, "if you are to take my place as mayor you will honour the traditions that our family has valued for generations. This _choice_ that you are making, this _phase_ you are going through- I will not allow it. You will marry a woman, God forbid, and you will continue to disown any form of relationship that is not natural." When Gaara took a step back from Rasa, he pushed forward again. "Your mother scowls down at you from heaven, Gaara. You killed her. You took her from me. We had what only a man and woman can have- love. And you ruined it."

Gaara felt a spike of pain in his chest at that comment. When his father was angry with him, he loved to talk about how Gaara killed his wife during childbirth; how he destroyed any chance of having a happy family. It was a fact that made the young man hate himself for years, all throughout his childhood- even his siblings, who were young and knew no better, blamed him at first for the death of their mother.

He swallowed thickly. "I didn't mean to-"

"But you did." Rasa seethed. "You already have a spot saved for you in hell, Gaara. Don't make your damnation even worse by fooling around with other boys."

The mayor of Suna turned around, refusing to acknowledge the pained darkness forming on Gaara's face.

"Your fiance's parents have complained that their daughter is straying onto a path that is similar to yours. I pray that both of you will come to your senses." He paused. "On second thought, don't change those clothes of yours. I want you to wallow in shame when your fiance sees you looking like a transvestite."

All that could be heard in the hallway was the sound of Rasa's footsteps and Gaara's ragged breaths. "Shit-" The redhead gasped, feeling a surge of emotion pass over him.

 _Maybe it's time to give up._ His conscience pressed.

Gaara inhaled slowly.

_No. I won't._

He pushed open the double-doors to the drawing room, where his so-called 'fiance' was waiting for him.

_Stick to your plan._

The redhead walked over to his betrothed and sat down, crossing his legs over the table that sat between them. He whipped out a cigarette, popped it in his mouth, lit it, and blew out a large puff of smoke. His aim was to act like a complete asshole- he did not want this woman to be attracted to him in any shape or form.

"I'll have you know," He started, cigarette between two fingers, "that I'm not into women. At all. So this isn't going to work out for me."

When the smoke faded, Gaara was able to look at his fiance for the first time. The figure was taller than him, much more muscular than him, with silvery-blue hair and a tattoo and a scar on a tanned jawline.

"That's okay." The figure spoke. "Because I'm not a woman."

Gaara stared at him, confused. "There's no way. My father was absolutely certain that my fiance was going to be a woman."

"Well, I'm not. No matter how much my parents refuse to believe it, I am a man. I promise."

His voice was gentle, expression solemn and almost sad-looking. Gaara frowned at him.

And then it was clear.

"You're transgender." He said slowly, not questioning it but stating it. Gaara had never been around a trans person- the only illustrations he'd been given about them were vile slurs from his father and biased reports from Suna's tabloids and papers. The man simply nodded in response, before completely changing the topic.

"You shouldn't smoke in the house. The carbon monoxide will linger in the air and only make you more susceptible to lung cancer."

Gaara glanced down at the cigarette in his hand, as if only just realising it was still there. Coughing awkwardly, he flicked the stick of tobacco into the nearest bin and stood up. "Sorry." He said. "I'll open a window."

The man with flint-coloured hair nodded. "Good idea." And when Gaara stood on his tiptoes to yank the window open, he tilted his head.

"Nice jeans."

"... Thanks. I like your tattoo."

"My parents hate it," He said, as Gaara sat down in front of him again, "but I got a friend of mine to do it in the Akatsuki parlour. I really like dragons, so..."

"Me too." Gaara said softly, admiring the sapphire dragon tattooed to the other man's bicep. There was an awkward silence as the two looked at their feet.

Finally, the grey-haired man spoke up. "My name's Shira."

"I'm Gaara."

"I know. Next-in-line for Suna's throne."

"More like Suna's government. But yes."

"I'm guessing by the stereo-typically gay outfit that your tactics are going to be a little different than your father's."

"Very different."

"Sounds promising."

They smiled at each other. Shira rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Does that mean that I can use the men's bathroom when you're Mayor?"

"I'll make sure to make that one of my first policies."

Shira offered him a small smile and looked down at his feet shyly. "Maybe this engagement isn't so bad after all."

Gaara smiled back at him, before they both went quiet. They blinked at each other in the silence, taking in the appearance and nature of the person in front of them. The redhead spoke up. "That scar on your face-"

"Ah." The man chuckled awkwardly. "Street harassment. Some asshole figured out I was trans and decided to throw a swing at me with a knife." When Gaara's eyes widened, he waved his hands hurriedly. "I'm okay now! I'm pretty tough, so I fought him off. I think your dad's police force were reluctant to arrest my attacker, though."

"I can assure you that I won't allow such discrimination when I take my father's place."

"You're almost the opposite of Rasa."

"I don't want anyone to be treated unfairly." Gaara said softly. "Not because of something that can't be changed."

"With that logic, I promise you'll have no trouble becoming a respected mayor. Suna's been needing to advance for a long time." Shira placed a hand on his shoulder and beamed at him. "I'm glad you're taking the Minato Namikaze approach."

"He's pretty legendary." Gaara mused. "I'd like to visit him one day. My father hates him, so there isn't much contact between our two cities."

"I'd love to go to Konoha. Their LGBT community is massive- I can only imagine what it would be like to be surrounded by so many people who understand you."

"I guess that's why most of my friends are from Konoha. As well as my sort-of-boyfriend."

"How can you have a sort-of-boyfriend?" Shira laughed, and Gaara shrugged shyly.

"It's not really official, or anything... He hasn't asked me to be his boyfriend yet."

"Maybe you should ask him."

"I asked him on a date. It's his turn." Gaara scoffed, and Shira laughed harder.

"You make it seem so complicated." He tilted his head, "If it were me, I'd just ask them. But then I date girls, so I suppose it's traditionally my job to do all the asking out."

"And this is my first relationship, so I don't really know how it works."

Shira furrowed his eyebrows, squinting at Gaara across the table. The redhead blinked.

"What?"

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"So you didn't even date in high school?"

"I wasn't allowed."

"Interesting." The grey-haired man stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What's your sort-of-boyfriend like, anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, if this guy's gonna be the future mayor's husband at some point I'd like to take some interest."

"It's a little early to assume we're gonna get married." Gaara mumbled.

"Well, if you're going to legalise same-sex marriage then you might as well set an example."

He had a point.

"Well, um... He's athletic. And kind. And tells stupid jokes."

"Sounds like a keeper."

"I just hope I am."

Shira chuckled. "If you worry too much that you're not worth it, eventually you won't be. Have confidence in yourself."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Are you confident?"

Shira frowned, furrowing his eyebrows. He cleared his throat behind a tanned hand and shrugged. "I will be."

Gaara tilted his head. "Can I help at all?"

"You're helping by being understanding. It's just... difficult. Being labelled as something you're not."

"A girl?"

"I was never a girl," he continued, "I knew as soon as I could think that there was something off. That I was different.  And there's no access to trans therapy in Suna and my parents were never accepting. I heard that in Konoha you can do all sorts of stuff to transition. Hormone replacements, different surgeries... Things I'm not allowed access to in Suna."

"Not yet. But you will be."

"I just want to get rid of these breasts at the very least, man." Shira chuckled, proceeding to grimace down at his chest that was a little larger than the average male's. "And if I could get prescribed testosterone- I don't really have a thing for facial hair, but a deeper voice and a more masculine build would be a dream. My body's caused me so much dysphoria."

Gaara listened to him intently, empathising, nodding every so often. He wanted to show support. He wanted to show he was willing to help. "I'll draw back the policies preventing people access to trans therapy and medication. When I have the authority to, at least."

Shira only smiled at him, with a hopeful shine that Gaara did not want to dim. He stood up from his seat before leaning down to wrap his arms around the red-haired man, squeezing him tight. A little surprised, flattered, and unsure what to do, Gaara patted him on the back awkwardly.

"Thank you." The younger man said.

"It's no trouble." Gaara replied, still sitting stiffly in Shira's embrace.

When they broke apart, there was a gentle knock on the door and Temari poked her head in. "Gaara, it's coming up two PM. You'll be late."

"I'll go straight to Lee's to pick him up." The young politician said, and his sister nodded in response. She offered Shira a polite and radiant smile before she exited. The said man stared after her.

"Was that your sister?"

"Mm."

"She's really pretty."

Gaara blinked at the space where his sister previously stood, squinting. "... I guess so."

Shira laughed. "I suppose it would be weird for you to agree."

The older man shrugged, gesturing for Shira to follow. "I'll walk you out." He slid his car keys from the pocket of his jeans and spun them round his fingers. "I have to go meet my sort-of-boyfriend."


	8. Week 6 - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a successful round of the taijutsu championships, the friends return to Sasuke's house to celebration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry that I know very little about martial arts, and I can't stop regretting that I made Neji the villain because he's actually one of my favourite characters. I'm gonna figure out some way to redeem him later on, haha. I'm also very sorry that I'm doing this to procrastinate revising for my A level exams (which are literally going on right now hahahahaaaaaaa).
> 
> Actually, I'm not that sorry about the latter. Thank you all very much for 1k reads!
> 
> Final note: my Italian is still amateur, I only know what Assassin's Creed has taught me. I'm going to Italy this Summer as well. Pray for me.

********  
Gaara had, somehow, gotten into a sticky situation.

Okay, sticky was the wrong word. He was in a squishy situation. A very squishy one, actually. As expected, Konoha University's dream team of scholarship martial arts kids had beaten their opponents into the dust, earning them all a medal and a pass to the following round, which was to be held in the next couple of weeks. Sasuke, Sakura, Neji, and Tenten had all won their matches; so when Rock Lee ended his fight with a hefty thwack of his bokken (hitting his contender square in the chest) the team exploded into cheers, running over to attack the bowl-cut boy with big hugs and slaps on the back.

They had all made it. Lee had made it. And Gaara was so proud of him.

So as the poor, tiny redhead sat smiling at him from the audience stands, he suddenly realised that Lee was smiling back. He was also making obnoxious gestures for him to come down and join them. Gaara flushed a pastel pink: he was still wearing his, for lack of better words, outgoing clothing, and there were a lot of people in the arena. A few cameras, too. He lifted his hands and shook his head furiously, ignoring Ino's frantic rib nudges from the seat beside him and Naruto's chants of encouragement. Lee rolled his eyes, grinned, said something to Sasuke who smirked in response, and then bolted to the stairs. Gaara's eyes widened as his sort-of-boyfriend grew closer and closer to him, gulping at the determination in his onyx eyes. The cameramen at the sidelines were following him with their lenses, eyebrows raised at the new target for entertainment. Before he could comprehend what was about to happen, Lee pounced on him, locking him round the torso with muscular arms.

That was when the situation got squishy.

It got even more squishy when Ino wrapped her arms around them from behind, turning the embrace into a weird, three-way snuggle. Naruto latched onto his side like a leech. Then he had Tenten's face in his back, Sasuke's fingers ruffling his hair, and Sakura's content laughter in his ear.

He didn't know where Neji was, and he didn't care.

Gaara was in the centre of a giant group hug. He had a lot of mixed feelings about it, not all of them positive, but kept his mouth shut because he didn't want to ruin the moment. However, he felt extremely overwhelmed by all the affection and attention, and the shyest part of him wanted to find a dark corner to curl up in.

"Why-" he gasped, "why hug me? All of you?"

"Because you're our friend, and we love you." Ino said from behind him.

"And you put confidence in Lee. You helped him win, dude!" Tenten added.

"Sweet Gaara, _dolce_ Gaara, my good luck charm." Lee murmured, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Suddenly he was crying. His friends, somehow, were not shocked by this. They cooed at him and rubbed his back.

"Before I met you idiots, I was never this emotional." He choked out, attempting to sound angry but coming across as rather pathetic.

"It's a good thing you did, you sap." Naruto grinned.

Shoving them away, Gaara wiped his wet cheeks and nose with the sleeve of his bomber jacket. "Be proud of yourselves, not me. You guys did amazing." He dabbed at his face. "You also ruined my eyeliner."

Laughing, Lee entwined their hands as they made their way out of the stadium. Sakura, Ino and Tenten had all linked arms and were doing a strange mix of skipping and dancing, singing a song from the Wizard of Oz. Lee broke hold of him to hug his sensei, who was also crying fiercely, and shouting gibberish about 'the power of youth'. Blinking in confusion, Gaara was steered away from the strange sight by Sasuke.

"It's better not to ask and to keep moving." He said. "Now, who wants a drink?"

The sound of cheers answered his question, and Gai-sensei waved them off with a final sob. Lee's hand was in his again, and they all made their way back to Sasuke's house.

The building itself was absolutely massive, but the friends rarely entered. They spent most of their time in the backyard: the martial arts team helped to build a campfire while Ino and Naruto brought alcohol and hot chocolate from the kitchen. Hinata was called to join them, and they all lay in the grass, stargazing, eating flame-crisped marshmallows, spiking their warm drinks with baileys. While Lee chose to remain sober as usual, Gaara allowed Naruto to add half a shot of Irish cream liqueur into his hot chocolate. He enjoyed the lazy merriness it gave him, the way it slid the troubles out of his mind. Sasuke turned on some smooth jazz as the girls giddily offered to braid flowers into Lee's hair, and he laughed as they tied forget-me-nots and daisies into his shampoo-shiny bowl cut. When Ino asked Gaara if he wanted some floral decoration, too, he made the tipsy decision to say yes; they struggled with his messy red locks for a while before Tenten got up and ran over to the pond, stumbling a little with drunken glee. She picked a flower from among the lily pads and brought it over to show him: it was a lotus, with white petals that faded into an ombré of pastel pink. Gaara thought it was beautiful. Hinata tucked it behind his ear with delicate precision. Lee was staring at him with gentle passion, and it made Gaara's insides melt.

Tenten wrapped an arm round Hinata's shoulders and pressed messy kisses to her cheeks, making the beautiful woman laugh musically. It wasn't long until the two got up to walk inside, saying they were sleepy. A lot of the group scoffed and snorted in response.

"What will they really be doing?" Gaara asked softly, tangling his fingers in Lee's hair. The small amount of alcohol in his system was making him a little more affectionate, and his sort-of-boyfriend was not complaining.

"Sasuke has a lot of spare bedrooms in his house." Lee responded, resting his head on Gaara's lap. "They probably want a little bit of privacy. To be intimate."

"They love each other." Gaara said.

"They do." Lee smiled. The redhead leaned down to kiss his nose.

The rest of the group slowly filtered into the house, leaving the two on their own outside. Lee looked up at him, the constellations of the night sky reflecting in his dark eyes.

"You're beautiful." He said.

"You've told me before." The redhead nodded with a small chuckle. "Thank you. If it pleases you, I think you're very nice to look at as well."

"I know." Lee grinned. "You stay in the dojo a lot longer when I'm shirtless."

"I'm not one to pass up an opportunity to see your chest." He shrugged.

"Me neither. To see your chest, I mean, not mine."

Gaara blushed, looking down at the hem of his shirt curiously. He went to lift his hand, and Lee smacked it away lightly.

"Hey- I didn't mean you should take off your shirt and show me now!" He laughed. Gaara blinked up at him steadily.

"Actually, I was going to take off your shirt."

Lee's eyes widened and his face burned red. Gaara continued to stare at him. Then, he smiled, amusement flickering in his turquoise irises.

"I'm kidding."

"Oh." He laughed, shaking his head. "Geez. You were starting to make me think you were a pervert."

"I wouldn't pass over that thought completely."

"Shut it, you." Lee jabbed him in the chest, causing the little redhead to flinch and squeak. "C'mon, let's go to the treehouse. I'm a little reluctant to go inside just yet- Tenten and Hinata will still be going at it."

Smiling, Gaara let the older man take his hand to help him up. Lee clambered up a few branches to reach the little tree hut, then leaned down to pull Gaara up by their intertwined fingers. They planted themselves down on the planked floor, then Lee crawled into the corner to grab a couple of blankets. "I've only been in the treehouse a couple of times, but Naruto joins Sasuke up here all the time. They keep all sorts of stuff here- you could probably live in this treehouse if you wanted to."

Gaara glanced around, catching sight of carvings into the wooden walls. There were loads of them; doodles of the two, secret messages, a track of their heights over the years that proved Sasuke to be taller since they were ten. "It feels like this place is lost in time," Gaara started, "like we're entering a world that Naruto and Sasuke created."

"They've been close for years." Lee nodded, throwing a blanket round their shoulders to keep them warm.

"They love each other, too?" Gaara asked.

"Possibly." Lee said.

They sat in silence for a little bit longer, cuddled up like penguins yearning for body heat. Gaara could feel Lee's fingers tracing small circles between his shoulder blades; the gesture made his muscles relax and his heart tense.

"Do you know what love is, Lee?" He breathed. He wasn't sure why he asked, though part of the reason could have been the tipsiness. His sort-of-boyfriend hummed, thinking it through.

"Yes." He said. "I love my martial arts team. I love Tenten, my best friend. I loved Neji in a romantic sense, back when we were dating. I love my parents, even though they're gone."

"What happened to them?"

"Car crash." He stated grimly. "It was such an inglorious way to go. You'd think if two wonderful people had to die, they'd do so after years of an amazing life, after they'd had three sets of grandchildren and a great deal of pension money." He frowned, eyes welling up with tears. Blinking them away furiously, he gave Gaara a weak smile. "Sorry. I miss them a lot. I wish they were here."

Unsure what to do, but knowing he should do something, Gaara lifted his hand to cup Lee's cheek tenderly. Lee leaned into his touch.

"I never knew my mother." The younger man said. "She was only alive for the first minutes of my life. I don't remember anything about her, but I've seen pictures of her."

"What did she look like?"

"Beautiful." Gaara murmured. "Temari's the spitting image of her, except for the hair. It was this lovely chestnut colour, like trees in Autumn. And her eyes were just so warm."

"Like yours." Lee murmured.

"Kankuro doesn't remember much about her, he's only a couple years older than me. But he says that she used to hum Mozart and paint still life and collect sea shells. Apparently she'd dance with my father in the kitchen for hours to the radio." He paused. "I ruined all that. There's nothing I wish more than to rewind time so I was never born, so they could be a happy family without me."

"Your life is so precious, Gaara." Lee said, brushing a strand of red hair behind the younger man's ear. Gaara sighed shakily.

"I think, one day, I'll believe you. One day I'll know what it means to be loved, and how to love other people."

Lee looked down at him, his fingers still smoothing out the spikes of his hair. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. "I'd like to be standing here with you, when you figure it out."

Gaara locked eyes with him, scanning over his expression for any sign that he was being lied to. He was met with only genuine honesty, and it encouraged Gaara to tilt his chin up and press a tiny kiss to Lee's lips. The hand on his cheek told him that Lee was blushing furiously, and he knew he was as well; the smaller looped his arms round the taller's neck, encouraging him to slide his arms round Gaara's waist.

"You make me dizzy." Lee said.

"You make me feel." Gaara said.

Lee crashed their lips together once more, pulling their bodies closer. Gaara tuned out his surroundings to focus on the warmth of their kiss, to concentrate on the pounding of his heart. He moved to place a hand on Lee's chest and was filled with delight when he felt Lee's heart drum just as passionately. His lips tasted of fresh air and campfire smoke, his tongue tasted like chocolate and marshmallows; he wondered if his own tasted of Irish creme liqueur. Lee's touches were careful and wise, contrasting with Gaara's unsure caresses of the taller man's shoulders. The stereo Sasuke had brought out was still humming out a melody, a korean song that was melancholic like a lullaby. The wooden floor was uncomfortable. Lee's embrace was comfortable. Lee's lips were comfortable. Soft. Sweet.

Gaara sighed as Lee ran his tongue across his own before grazing his teeth on his lower lip. Lee pulled away only to press open-mouthed kisses along his neck and jawline, sucking on a spot above his collarbone. Gaara's breath hitched, and he dug his nails into the muscles of Lee's back, causing the older man to hiss a little.

"Sorry." Gaara whispered.

"That was a pleased sound, Gaara." Lee chuckled lowly into the crook of his neck, and Gaara clung to him harder as if fearing he'd suddenly disappear.

"I like this."

"I like it too." Lee nudged their noses together in an eskimo kiss. "But let's stop for now, yeah? I don't want Sasuke to lecture us for getting too heated in his treehouse."

Nodding, Gaara pressed himself closer into Lee's grasp. Lee chuckled at the affection, kissing the left side of his forehead like always. "You'd better take off that makeup."

"I have some wipes in my bag... But I'm too lazy to get up."

"I'll get them. You seem too love-drunk to get up safely." Lee winked cheekily, making Gaara blush. With a curious instinct, the redhead shifted onto his lap, laying one hand on Lee's shoulder with the other tangling in his hair.

"I've been drinking, I've been drinking," he sung softly, leaning forward to run his breath other the dark-haired man's ear, "I get filthy when that liqueur get into me, I've been thinking, I've been thinking," a smile tugged at Gaara's lips when Lee's face burned a pleasant shade of red, "why can't I keep my fingers off it, baby, I want you, na-na~"

"What is that?" Lee asked, biting hard on his lip when Gaara tossed his head to the side, deliberately exposed the length of his neck.

"Drunk in Love, by Beyoncé." He blinked innocently, continuing to sing huskily in Lee's ear. "I want your body right here, daddy, I want you, right now~"

"Okay, now you're just drunk" Lee rolled his eyes before lifting Gaara of his lap with an amused grin. "Stay. Behave."

"Sure." Gaara purred, and Lee's blush darkened. He went to retrieve the wipes, leaving Gaara to lay humming Beyoncé songs under the blanket. When Lee returned, he collected a torch from Naruto and Sasuke's treehouse stash to help him see before cleaning Gaara's face until it was makeup-free. Gaara now had the freedom to rub his eyes without smudging any mascara, and when he turned his attention back to Lee he saw that he was being frowned at- which was unusual, because Lee almost always looked happy.

"What?" Gaara asked. Lee reached out and ran a finger over his cheek.

It stung.

Narrowing his eyes, Gaara scrubbed at the spot Lee was eyeing, eyes widening when he realised that his cheek was a little more swollen than the other.

"He hit you-?" Lee gasped.

The redhead gulped, remembering the earlier incident. "Yes. Before I went to meet my fiance." Lee opened his mouth, his eyes wide, and Gaara continued before he could. "I'm sorry, I know I promised I wouldn't let him, but he was mad and I wasn't quick enough-"

Lee launched himself at him, hugging him tight and nuzzling into his hair. "Stop it- God, stop it! You say it like it's your fault he hit you!"

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Gaara, don't you _ever_ blame yourself for the awful things your Dad does - you're a ray of sunshine, you're wonderful, and you definitely don't deserve to be abused like that!"

The redhead stayed quiet, burrowing into Lee's neck with his fingers grasping at the back of Lee's shirt. Then, he spoke up in a whisper. "Thank you for caring."

"I always will." Lee murmured. "I want nothing more to protect you."

"Soon you won't need to. It won't be long until I lead Suna, and I can change all of his ridiculous laws. I can send him far away, and my sister can marry who she wants, and Kankuro can come home, and I-"

"-won't have to be hurt anymore." Lee said softly, kissing his forehead. "What happened, anyway? Why did he have to hit you like that?"

"He didn't like my fashion sense, just as expected. He said I was wearing women's clothes, threw a load of homophobic slurs at me, and then smacked me right across the face when I suggested that I was gay." Gaara shrugged, sighing when Lee began caressing his back. "He hasn't hit me in a while. He's said some awful things, the same shit about me causing the death of my mother, but he hasn't lain a hand on me since I was a kid."

"That still doesn't make it okay, Gaara."

"You should see what he does to Temari." He whispered. "She's the best out of all three of us. The smartest, the strongest - but Father takes out every bit of his anger on her. Three weeks ago, he told her that he was putting me in an arranged marriage. She argued with him for my sake, and it enraged him. When I came home..." Gaara paused to gulp shakily, not used to opening up about such sensitive topics. "When I came home," he repeated, "she had bruises all up her arms and back. She's turning twenty-two soon, and yet he still has her in a choke hold."

Lee stayed silent, pressing soothing kisses to his scalp. Gaara continued.

"Kankuro and I had a difficult relationship when we were kids. All he knew was what Father told him - that I killed our Mum. It was when he got into his teens when he softened a little. We weren't best friends, or anything, he just no longer blamed me and I no longer resented him. Dad only ever targeted him because his grades were never as high as Temari's. But then he started dating Kiba. Father caught them. Attacked Kankuro really bad. He actually fought back, which none of us ever had the courage to do, but by the end he was bruised and battered with a cut up lip."

"You don't have to continue, Gaara, if it's hurting you."

"No, no, I-" He pulled away so he could meet eyes with Lee, resting their foreheads together. "It feels good to talk about it. Refreshing. Besides, it was that incident that made my brother and I so close. We reached out to each other. I'd like to visit him in Konoha, soon."

"I don't think I've ever heard you talk this much." Lee chuckled, nudging his nose against the smaller man's affectionately. "That alcohol really made an impact."

"It tasted pretty bad. I'm glad it was diluted with hot chocolate." He tilted his head at the older man with an inquisitive look. "Why don't you drink?"

Lee's face swarmed with the colour red. He coughed with embarrassment, pressed his lips into a thin line, and patted Gaara on the back awkwardly. "Aha- let's just say that my youthfulness is better experienced sober than drunk."

"Hm. Interesting."

"I won't give away anything else!" He released Gaara from the hug and shoved him (a little harder than he meant to) onto his back, then began to stroke his face in a weird manner of petting. "Bedtime!"

"What-"

"Shhh, bedtime!" He cooed, pulling the blanket over Gaara's body and patting his cheeks. "Night night!"

Rolling his eyes, Gaara yanked him down by the collar of his shirt and pressed a chaste kiss on his lips. "Fine. Lay with me."

Seeming to calm, Lee mumbled something about explaining in the future before settling down beside the politics student. Gaara brushed his fingers through Lee's dark hair, gazing into those onyx eyes for the final time that night.

"Sweet dreams." He mumbled. Lee grinned at him and pecked him on the nose.

"Sweet dreams." He echoed, and Gaara's eyelids went heavy.

He had a series of peculiar dreams.

In the first, he was sat opposite Lee, who was painting the kanji of 'ai' on the left side of his forehead. In the second, he was floating in a pond without any sign of getting wet; after shifting his position, he discovered that he was laying on a raft of lily pads and lotus flowers. In the third, he was being touched and kissed by Kiba. Before he could comprehend why he was in bed with him of all people, the door burst open and his father was yelling, pulling at his clothes, beating him, and Gaara found himself screaming for Kiba to run. He was thrown to the floor, shaking, and all he could feel was warm blood wetting his mouth. He crawled to the mirror to check the wound on his lip: it was then he saw that it wasn't himself in the reflection, but his brother Kankuro.

When he woke up, it was because Naruto was shaking him.

"Dude, did you and Lee bang in my treehouse? What the fuck, man!"

Groaning, Gaara pushed the blonde away from him and pressed a hand to his forehead; it throbbed furiously from the alcohol the night before.

"It's my treehouse, Naruto, and they're both one-hundred-percent clothed. Calm down." Sasuke sighed. "Leave them to sleep, Naruto, Gaara's probably got a hangover from all the Bailey's you gave him."

Sounds of Naruto complaining diffused into the distance as Sasuke yanked him by the ear out of the treehouse. The redhead groaned, pressing his fingers to his throbbing temple. "Fuck." He nudged the sleeping body next to him, rubbing his eyes. "Oi, Lee, get up."

He was met with a grumble in response. Gaara wrenched the lotus flower from his tangled red hair and elbowed Lee harder. "Wake up."

"What happened to the cute Gaara from last night..." Lee mumbled, burying his face into the younger man's shoulder. "Five more minutes, my alarm hasn't gone off yet..."

Sighing, Gaara sat up so he could get the flowers out of Lee's hair. "I thought you were a morning person."

"I am... I'm just... comfy... with you..."

A small smile tugged at Gaara's lips as he slid another daisy out of Lee's bowl cut. "Shut up."

The older man yawned ferociously, smacked his lips together a couple of times, then opened his eyes and blinked at the redhead a couple of times. Then, the most absurdly adorable look of joy spread over his face. "Good morning, Gaara."

"Good morning to you too."

"I hope you slept well. Is your hangover bad? Can you remember anything?"

"My head stings a little bit, but my memory isn't so bad."

"You remember everything?"

"Yes, I think so?"

"Including when you straddled me and sung Beyoncé?"

Exclaiming in frustration, Gaara whacked him round the head with the pack of makeup wipes. "I think I want to forget that moment in particular."

"I don't!" Lee grinned, grabbing his waist and smothering him in a hug. "My mind has recorded it and I never want to forget it!"

"Ugh-!" Scowling, Gaara hit Lee's back over and over. "Let me go, you- you-"

"What?" Lee's smirk widened.

"CLOTPOLE!"

"CLOTPOLE-?" Lee mimicked with the same volume before bursting out into ridiculous laughter. "Is that all you've got?"

"At least your face is less disappointing than your microphallus!"

"Oh, you're getting smart with me now?"

"You're an uncivilised simpleton!"

"Okay, okay, you win-" chuckling awkwardly, Lee released him and shifted further away, "let's stop with the insults now, yeah?"

"You're a naive chromosome-deficient derelict whose birth certificate is an apology from the condom factory!"

"Wha- hey! That's really mean!" Lee's lower lip was trembling and his eyes were wide and shining; Gaara wanted to think that he was pretending, but something about that poor orphan face made his insides turn to mush.

"You know I was joking."

Lee sniffled.

Gaara sighed. "Come here." He opened his arms, and Lee looked at them as though they belonged to satan himself. Rolling his eyes, the redhead put on a stern look and beckoned to the older man. "Here. Now."

"Are you going to yell at me again?" Lee pouted.

"No. Come here."

He began to shuffle over on his butt like a little kid, and Gaara couldn't stop his lip from twitching upwards into a half-smile at the sight. Looping his arms round Lee's shoulders, he tilted his head to the side.

"I'm sorry for calling you a simpleton."

The taller man scoffed, but smiled nonetheless.

"And for saying that your birth certificate was a letter of apology from the condom factory. And for calling you a clotpole."

"What even is a clotpole?" Lee laughed, and Gaara shrugged in response.

"And for insinuating you have a microphallus."

"Which is...?"

Gaara cocked an invisible brow. "It basically means 'tiny dick'."

"Oh." Lee's large eyebrows furrowed as if contemplating the idea. "Well, that's where you're wrong. I may be a simpleton, but I certainly don't have a microphallus."

"And you're certain about that?" Gaara tested, tensing a little when Lee's arms slid round his waist.

"You'll find out at some point."

"Tch." Gaara shook his head, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "There's nothing subtle about you, Rock Lee."

"Nope. I guess not." He grinned, and pressed his lips against Gaara's sweetly. The redhead hesitated, shy, the boldness of the previous night's alcohol long gone. Lee hummed against his mouth when he began to kiss back, slowly and cautiously, as if he had completely forgotten how he was supposed to respond. "Are you alright?" The taller man breathed against his lips, causing him to shudder.

"Just inexperienced." Gaara said softly. "You know what you're doing, and I don't."

"You make it sound like I'm the making-out master." Lee laughed, placing a light kiss on the other man's cheek. "I've only been in one relationship. Before you, that is."

"You consider this a relationship?"

"Of course I do!" He chirped. "What did you think we were? Friends with benefits?"

"I'm unfamiliar with the term."

"It doesn't matter that you don't know what it means. We're more than that."

"I'm your boyfriend." Gaara said slowly, testing the word on his tongue, liking the way it rolled off so easily minus the tiny stutter of timidness. Lee smiled at him.

"Would you like to be my boyfriend?"

"Yes."

"Then you are. And I'm yours."

"And we're not friends with benefits."

"Definitely not!"

"Are Naruto and Sasuke friends with benefits?"

Lee barked with laughter, pulling him closer by the hips and circling his fingers over his scalp. "Possibly. You'll have to ask Naruto."

"Mm..." Gaara rested his forehead against his boyfriend's, his expression content. "I'm more interested in our relationship than theirs." He tilted his chin up so he could initiate the kiss this time, and Lee willingly cooperated. For a while, he rested his fingertips on the toned skin of Lee's shoulder; this quickly got uninteresting, and Gaara boldly chose to slide his hand up to Lee's jawline and began to draw circles with his nails, very lightly. A rippling shudder passed down his boyfriend's body, and he couldn't help but feel proud of himself when it triggered Lee to kiss him deeper. After he had found his way on to Lee's lap and was exploring pressing small kisses against his neck, the taller man jabbed his fingers into his side. His body jolted, he inhaled sharply, and he pulled away to blink at Lee questioningly (and also a little bit angrily).

"Am I doing it wrong? I'm just copying what you did to me last night."

"No, it's just that your phone's been ringing over and over for the past few minutes." Lee smiled brightly at him, and Gaara glanced over at his long-forgotten mobile in the corner.

"Oh."

He removed himself from Lee's lap and wandered over to claim his phone (now directing his anger at whoever was calling for ruining the moment), and pressed the green answer button. "Hello?"

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" His brother bellowed from the speakers. Gaara pulled the phone away from his ear, used to his sibling being constantly over-the-top.

"What?" He asked, boredly, passing a side-glance over at Lee. "I'm busy."

Lee stifled a laugh.

"Gaara, you gay little shit, I saw you yesterday!"

Gaara blinked. "You did? All the way from Konoha?"

"Shut it you snarky butthole! They were televising the first round of the taijutsu championships!"

"Wait, really?" The memory of the cameramen from the previous day returned to his mind, and Gaara swore viciously. "What did they show?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all - just you getting hug attacked by all your friends in that really feminine outfit! Was the guy who hugged you first your boyfriend? He's pretty hunky, but you didn't mention those eyebrows-"

"Kankuro, did they recognise me?"

"Oh, definitely. I think people are catching on that their future mayor of Suna is going to be the gayest by far. Good job, little brother, it's actually picked up a lot of popularity on social media."

"Really?" Gaara pressed the phone closer to his ear, and Lee raised a brow at him questioningly. Gaara made a dismissive wave before making a 'one moment' gesture.

"I think Suna's younger generation is really taking a liking to you, they want you to publicly come out!"

"Hold that thought." Gaara pulled up his notifications, noting that Temari had attempted to call him several times. A text message from his father buzzed in, and Gaara was reluctant to read it. "He knows. He's seen it."

"Let him know!" Kankuro yelled, making his little brother wince at the harshness of his vocals. "You are the one who'll be leading this damned city into a place that is equal and safe! You said you were going to make our old man pay for all his abuse, then do it! Start your rebellion, Gaara, give the people something to fight for!"

The young politician opened his father's text with trembling fingers.

'Get home. Now.' It read.

After staring at the message, rereading the three words over and over, he pursed his lips together into a thin line. "Can I come visit?"

"Huh?"

"You and Kiba. I want to come visit."

"Well, yeah, if you want." Kankuro's voice sounded like he was caught off guard. "Why the sudden change in subject?"

"It's not a change in subject." Gaara said smoothly. "I want a tattoo."

From across the room, Lee gave him a befuddled look.

"A tattoo? Why?"

"The idea you gave me yesterday, the tattoo of the Japanese kanji for love- I want to go through with it."

"You're a sneaky bastard, Gaara." He could almost hear his brother grinning on the other line. "Dad's gonna hate it."

"But he'll never be able to remove it. Even if he wins, even if he finds a way to defeat me, the tattoo will remain."

"And so will your wish to make all love equal." Kankuro chuckled. "Alright, little bro, I'll get the futon. Invite your boyfriend, too. I'd love to meet him."

His brother hung up, and Gaara tucked the phone away in his pocket. Lee stared at him, flabbergasted.

"Care to explain?"

Gaara walked back over to Lee, holding out his hand so he could help the taller man onto his feet. "Would you like to meet my brother?"

A look of bewilderment faded into happiness, and his boyfriend nodded brightly. "I'd love to!"

"Then I'd suggest we leave as soon as possible. Father saw us acting all romantic at the taijutsu championships so I doubt I'll be safe going home."

"That's why you're so tense?" Lee asked softly, linking their hands together.

"He's going to be really mad, Lee. It's best that I keep away for a little bit."

"Then I'm with you all the way!" His boyfriend beamed, squeezing their entwined hands and leading him out of the treehouse. "How are you gonna pack, though?"

"I'll buy some stuff." Gaara shrugged, smiling a little when Lee helped him descend the tree.

What a gentleman.

"You go home and pack. I'll get my car while I know Father's at work."

"I'll grab snacks and some good music, too!" Lee pressed a kiss on the left side of his forehead, before tilting his head at him. "What's this about a tattoo, anyway?"

Chuckling, Gaara stood on the tips of his toes to give his boyfriend a chaste kiss, cupping his cheek tenderly. "You'll see."


	9. Week Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara and Lee travel to Kankuro's house to temporarily hide from Rasa's fury. A tattoo is designed, Kankuro teases, and nightmares are revealed.
> 
> / Fluff, light banter, and semi-graphic abuse /

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I have really been slacking with my writing, I have made some future plans for XO:
> 
> \- To keep myself comfortable and more motivated, updates will now be scheduled for every Wednesday.
> 
> \- I will gradually be making small changes to each chapter. You will not have to reread every single one, I will simply be correcting any errors I have made and editing my phrasing to make each paragraph more fluid.

"THIS DUDE NAMED MICHAEL USED TO RIDE MOTORCYCLES, PEEN BIGGER THAN A TOWER I AIN'T TALKING 'BOUT-"

"Lee," Gaara started, fingers gripping the steering wheel with slight irritation, "did you really have to substitute the word 'dick' for 'peen'? Nicki Minaj isn't very poetic in the first place."

"How dare you!" Lee gasped, pausing the track to shoot a mock-glare at his boyfriend. "Nicki is the queen of hip-hop and her lyrics are tasteful!"

"Explain to me what 'tossing salad' means and tell me again that her songs are  _tasteful._ "

"Tossing salad is when you-"

"I know what tossing salad is!"

"Then you'll know that it is gender inclusive. Anyone can toss a salad! Whether you're male, female, trans, gender neutral - we all have a butt!"

"Butt and tasteful do not exist in the same universe."

"Don't you think my butt is tasteful?" Lee waggled his eyebrows. Gaara tapped his fingers against the wheel and pretended to think about it.

"I don't know, I don't really look at your butt."

A slow grin formed on the taller man's face. "Liar."

"How did this conversation even start?" Gaara huffed out a large breath and glanced over at the GPS below the windscreen. They were growing closer to Kankuro's place, at least, but this still meant there was an hour left to drive and the redhead was growing ravenous. When they passed a brightly-lit sign for a service station, he made a swift indication to the left and swerved the car towards the outer lane.

"McDonalds, McDonalds!" Lee chanted, clapping his hands with childish joy. "Daddy needs a Big Mac!"

"What happened to the diet your beloved sensei gave you,  _daddy?_ " A small smirk tugged at the corner of Gaara's lips as his boyfriend's face fell. "Remind me of the foods you're prohibited to eat, again?"

"Don't torture me in this way!" Lee moaned.

"No donuts, no chocolate, no candy, no french fries, no soda, no chips, no instant ramen-"

"Please, Gaara! I just want one greasy burger!" He whined, sinking down in the passenger's seat and writhing on the small amount of floor space. "I have done so well! I haven't had a cheat day in seven years and-"

"I'm sorry, but Gai specifically instructed me to watch over your diet."

"You're right." He sighed. "I must not go against the wishes of my sensei. I must be strong!" Taking a large inhale, Lee folded his arms and glared at the McDonald's sign above their head. "You will not defeat me, Sir McDonald! I will not give in to your food-disguised sodium!"

"That's the spirit." Gaara said, choosing to pull into the drive-thru while the older man continued his speech.

"I will not be manipulated by your preservative patties and oily pickles and fake cheese and squishy buns-"

"Hi, yes, I'd like to order a big mac meal for my crazy boyfriend." Gaara leaned in towards the speaker, listening carefully for the server's response as Lee babbled on about 'resilience' and 'youth'. The chirpy teen behind the microphone giggled.

"And would your crazy boyfriend like a drink with that meal?" She asked.

Gaara squinted over at Lee, who was now belting out the lyrics to 'I will Survive' to the Ronald McDonald figurine beside them. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the speaker. "Do you have anything calming?"

"We've just got a new selection of herbal teas that are naturally caffeine free. How about a camomile?"

"Sounds great, thanks."

The girl's voice faded out with a small beep and Gaara pulled the car forward so he could pay for the meals. After swiping his debit card, he collected his food from a pimply guy who was staring down Lee with extreme confusion and disgust.

"DO YOU THINK I'D CRUMBLE? D'YOU THINK I'D LAY DOWN AND DIE? OH NO, NOT I," Lee sung, still completely unaware of his surroundings. "I WILL SURVIVE!"

"Enjoy your meal." Said the pimply guy, and as Gaara drove away he heard the word 'faggots' slip from his mouth.

"Douchebag." Gaara muttered in response, proceeding to dump the bag of grease on to Lee's lap. "Come on, I know you were dying for it."

"But you said-"

"Eat."

Lee stared down at the bag, chewing his lower lip anxiously. Then, he peeled away the brown paper and lifted out the burger box. Flipping it open, he gazed at the Big Mac with a desire that Gaara had never seen cross his face before; his eyes were wide and sparkling, his mouth slightly open.

Gaara probably would have been turned on if it weren't for the strong smell of pickles.

"Why is it that you know me so well, even though we've only just started dating?" The taller man asked, biting into the burger and moaning with each chew. Gaara cleared his throat, hoping to encourage Lee to stop making such pleasurable noises.

"Actually, I'm still learning. I didn't know beforehand that you've been cheating on me with a Big Mac."

"I am sorry Gaara, but I couldn't help but get seduced by those buns!"

The redhead scoffed, but cracked a smile anyway. "Ew."

A text pinged in and Gaara's phone screen lit up. His eyes didn't leave the road as he made an indication to return to the freeway, but he lifted a hand to nudge Lee in the side. "Hey, can you read out that text to me?"

"Sure!" Gaara returned both hands to the wheel as he heard Lee shuffle in the passenger's seat to reach his mobile. "It's from your brother!"

"What did he say?"

"'Can you please pick up some turkey bacon for Akamaru, Kiba got drunk last night and ate it all like beef jerkey. Also, thanks for the shirtless picture of your boyfriend.'" Lee's large eyebrows furrowed as the message took an embarrassing turn, and Gaara flushed pale pink. "'You're right, he does have better abs than Kiba."

The poor redhead could feel Lee's confused stare on him. He coughed. "I can explain-"

"I haven't sent you any shirtless pictures." Lee was squinting at him, judgemental criticism harsh in his dark irises. "You've only seen me shirtless once, and that was for a few seconds."

"Uh-"

"When have you been taking them?"

"I haven't taken any."

"Then where are you getting them?"

"Lee-"

"Gaara."

"... Tenten."

"You've been asking Tenten for shirtless pictures of me?!"

"What-  _no-_ she just sends them to me without warning!"

Lee gaped at him. "So you save them?!"

"I mean-"

"Gaara!"

"Are you mad at me?"

"It's a pretty creepy thing to do." He huffed.

"I'm sorry- look, I'll delete them all, I promise! I'll tell Tenten to stop messaging me them, I don't want to push any of your boundaries or anything!" Restraining himself from slamming his face against the steering wheel, Gaara blushed darker with humiliation. " _I just don't know how dating works!_ "

"Gaara-"

"What?!"

"I'm kidding."

Gaara shot a look over at his boyfriend, who was red in the face, eyes streaming, puffing his cheeks out in an attempt not to burst out laughing.

After a large inhale, Gaara sighed loudly in frustration.

"I hate you."

"Awe, don't say that!"

"I'm mad at you."

"Don't be mad!"

"I'm  _so_ mad at you."

"Are we seriously having a fight?"

"I'm going to ignore you for fifteen minutes."

"Please don't ignore meeeeee!"

"I'm ignoring you."

Lee pouted and gave him a sappy case of puppy eyes. "Please don't ignore me, Gaara!"

Gaara responded with harsh silence. Lee's puppy eyes grew even puppy-er.

"I really don't mind that you saved those pictures of me."

Silence.

"Gaara, I can't wait fifteen minutes to talk to you."

More silence. Lee was starting to look sad. After another minute of no talking, Lee spoke up again.

"You're very cute when you're angry." He smiled, but his boyfriend scowled in response. "Sorry. I meant to say you're cute all the time."

Gaara huffed, and put all of his focus into his driving. Identify slow-moving car ahead. Decelerate. Indicate into next lane. Accelerate. Overtake the slow vehicle. Ignore boyfriend's sappy compliments.

"I can tell that it's working because you're blushing." Lee said cheerfully, causing the redhead to send him a dirty glare. He made brief eye contact with his reflection in the front mirror and was irritated further when he saw rosy cheeks. Focus on driving: check GPS for remaining distance and compare to the level of gas. Remove hand from the steering wheel to switch gears in order to -  _shit._ Fingers suddenly laced into his, and Gaara was knocked out of his road-concentration when Lee pressed a kiss to the back of his hand.

" _Perdonami, mi amore_." He murmured against Gaara's skin, making the younger man to shudder a little at the roll of the final 'r' on Lee's tongue.

"For fuck's sake," Gaara breathed, wondering why in the world Italian had to be so damn sexy, "fine, I'm not mad at you for tricking me."

"Ah, thank you for forgiving me!" Lee sung, placing another kiss on his cheek. "I promise you can take as many shirtless pictures of me as you want!"

"I'm not the one who takes them, I told you-"

"It's a little unfair that you have so many of me, though. I think I should take a shirtless picture of you to make us even-"

"-No fucking way."

"If I text Ino asking if she has one, what are the chances that she will say yes?"

The younger man froze; he didn't remember Ino snapping any photos of him in the past. Then again, Ino was very untrustworthy. "If you text her, I swear to God I'll kick you out the car."

"Alas, my poor broken heart! Will my desire for half nude pics ever be granted?"

"... Alright, sure." Removing one hand from the wheel, Gaara grabbed the hem of his tee. "I'll take my shirt off right now."

Lee's face flooded with colour. "Wait - really? I-I was just kidding-"

"You almost had me thinking you were smooth when it comes to intimacy." Gaara smirked.

"Hey- I am!"

"Prove it."

"Uh..."

Gaara indicated to the right and steered the car so it was parked up against the sidewalk. He clicked off his seatbelt; Lee's gaze on him was intense, an awkward mix of embarrassment and stress as if he was fighting to stay focused. Leaning towards his boyfriend, the redhead arched an invisible brow. "If you're so smooth, what would you do if I asked you to take me right here and right now?"

There was deadly silence in the car. Lee was beginning to look increasingly like a tomato. "I-It's really difficult to tell when you're being serious, Gaara."

"Lee," Gaara whispered against his boyfriend's ear, "I'm always serious."

"Oh..." Lee fumbled around in his mind for a curse word that was innocent enough for his clean mouth. "... crumbs. Diddly darn it. For the love of my sensei's godly eyebrows - w-wait, what are you doing?"

Gaara had decided the best plan of attack was to flip himself over the gear stick and settle on his boyfriend's lap. He looped his arms round Lee's neck and met the older teen's giddiness with a sly gaze. "I'm waiting,  _smooth guy._ "

" _Mamma mia-_ " Lee gulped, and grasped Gaara's arms to prevent him from pressing any closer. "Okay, yes, I'm not smooth. I just, uh, don't think it would be very appropriate to try that kind of stuff on you considering you're so inexperienced. I don't want to go too fast."

"Why not?"

"Because you are too pure for sex right now!"

Gaara frowned at him. "I'm nineteen."

"That doesn't mean we have to rush!"

"My brother slept with Kiba on the first night and they're doing well."

"Gaara, being intimate with someone can be fun, but a relationship doesn't have to revolve around it. I want to do the 'get to know'ing  _before_ all the sexy stuff." Gently, he brushed a lock of red hair behind Gaara's ear. "This is your first relationship, and I want you to be ready. I don't want you to feel manipulated or used."

The redhead's heart was fluttering. "I know you wouldn't ever do that, Lee. I also knew that you wouldn't try anything on me."

"Then why straddle me?!" Lee whined.

"Because it's fun making you hot and bothered." Gaara chuckled. "Besides, it would have been interesting if you decided to reciprocate."

"Well, I'm not going to, um, have sex with you in your car... But we could still make out, if you want?"

The younger man squinted at him for a moment before letting out a soft (but unbelievably adorable) laugh. "I'm going to gag if you taste like pickles."

"Don't pretend you don't love McDonalds!" Lee cooed, leaning in to press small kisses on his boyfriend's lips. Gaara willingly responded by kissing him deeper, running a hand up to Lee's dark hair so he could glide his fingers through each strand. After parting their mouths a little wider and their tongues met, Gaara pulled away.

"You really do taste like pickles. And fake cheese."

"Sorry." Lee grinned bashfully, glancing briefly away to look at the houses beside the car. His eyebrows furrowed. "Hey, um, can we continue driving now? I think it's a good idea to go."

"We're already here, why would we need to leave?"

"Because there's two men gawking at us through the window."

Blinking a couple of times in confusion, Gaara followed his boyfriend's gaze to the house parallel to the car. Kankuro stared back at him, his eyes wide, Kiba next to him with an amused smirk on his lips.

Gaara swore viciously. Lee looked startled. "H-hey, there's no need to be embarrassed! We were just kissing-"

"That's my brother, Lee!" Gaara swiftly removed himself from the other's lap and back into the driver's seat, his face in his hands. Kiba was cackling like a maniac and Kankuro was trying hard not to join in.

"Oh." Lee's face stained red for the hundredth time that day, and he proceeded to mouth 'sorry' at the couple inside. Kiba and Kankuro started waving at him, and the dark-haired man waggled his fingers foolishly in return. Gaara exhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh my God."

"They seem nice!"

"Oh my  _God._ "

"They've got a dog, too!" Lee gasped, and flung himself out of the car at the excitement of a furry friend. Gaara felt like curling up in a hole, and the feeling only increased when his boyfriend tapped on the window and opened the door for him. "Come on, it's me who should be nervous!"

"My brother is never going to let this go." He grumbled, taking Lee's outstretched hands and clasping their fingers together tight. "He'll make fun of me for generations about this."

"You told me that Kankuro literally had sex with whipped cream on him. That's something to make fun of."

"Point taken."

They walked up to the front door, and Kiba opened it before they could knock. Akamaru whizzed out and hopped up at the couple, yapping and wagging his fuzzy tail. Gaara froze in his spot when the dog pawed at his legs, as he'd never been allowed a pet for himself and had no idea what to do - Lee, however, seemed to be a natural. He dropped to his knees and clasped the puppy's head between his hands, rubbing his ears and cooing and snuggling while repeating the words 'fluffy' and 'cute' and 'good boy' and 'aw'.

"Dog person, are you?" Kiba asked.

"I want one so bad!" Lee replied, and Gaara could almost feel the approval radiating from the brown-haired man's smile. Kankuro was soon close behind; his younger brother looked down sheepishly, knowing that he was about to be teased for the incident in the car. It was an extreme surprise when Kankuro laughed and wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"I know you don't like hugs, and I'm not a huge sap either," He started, "but I've missed you, little bro."

Gaara felt himself smiling as he leaned into the embrace. "Who said I didn't like hugs?"

"You were such a grouchy teenager, I never attempted to be brotherly." Kankuro chuckled and pulled away, making suggestive glances over to Lee. "So... aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh - yeah, sorry." He cleared his throat shyly and gestured for his boyfriend to come to his side. Lee, who was sprawled on the floor getting a series of sloppy dog kisses, lifted Akamaru off his chest and stood up hurriedly. "This is Lee. We're, uh, dating."

"I had no idea." Kankuro mused, "I thought you were making out because you hated each other." He waggled his eyebrows at Gaara, who gave him a heavy case of murder-eyes. Lee bowed low and said his greetings a little too loudly.

"Nice too meet you! I am Rock Lee!"

Kankuro blinked. "Were your parents geologists?"

"Ah - no. Rock is a family name from my father's side. He was also obsessed with Bruce Lee."

"Did you used to go to Konoha High?" Kiba asked. "I'm pretty sure I used to see you in the gym all the time."

"Yes, I did! I took martial arts club throughout my first years and then devoted all my time to taijutsu after my first exams."

"Woah, no way! I used to do martial arts until I chose to focus on animal behaviour and zoology. It's a shame they kept each age group so separate, maybe we would've talked more."

"Now we have the chance!" Lee beamed.

Shaking his head at the two, Kankuro opened the door wider. "Come inside, lovebirds. I want to know everything - especially what went down at the championships."

 

* * *

 

They opted to sit together in the tattoo shop below the apartment. The place was nothing grand or fashionable like the Akatsuki parlour, but it was well presented with white walls and dark flooring, sketches and digital artwork hung up in rows. Kiba and Lee reminisced on their high school days while Kankuro started to design a template for the tattoo. Gaara kept a close eye on his drawing, negotiated the size and style.

"Is it really a good idea to put the tattoo on his head?" Kiba asked, and Lee choked on a granola bar.

"You're getting a face tattoo?!"

"It's not as outrageous as it sounds, truly-" Gaara waved his hands at his boyfriend in a attempt to persuade him, "you'll understand when you see it. Promise."

"You know if you two ever break up, you might end up hating it." Kankuro said slowly.

"Geez, Kank, don't be so pessimistic!" Kiba scolded, pointing to the petrified expression on Lee's face. "It's not like you're writing Lee's name on him!"

"Look, even if things don't go the way me and Lee plan, that doesn't change that Lee has made me feel valuable. He's shaped me, and I..." The redhead shook himself out of a daze, feeling a little humiliated that he was admitting all this. "I'm grateful to him. And I don't think breaking up would change that."

"You'd better watch it, lover boy's making heart eyes at you." His brother grinned, sweeping the drawing with a bold outline. "I'm really glad that you two are happy together, but please refrain from banging in my house."

Gaara and Lee passed the same look to each other. "Oh, we haven't-" They started, but Kankuro cut them off by nudging the youngest out of his seat.

"Sure, sure. Now get in the tattoo chair."

"Fuck, I'm really going through with this, aren't I?" Gaara settled himself down, trying to make sure he was as comfortable as possible to lesser whatever pain was coming.

"Just don't ask how much this is gonna hurt, little bro."

Kankuro washed his hands thoroughly before wiping down the left side of Gaara's temple with disinfectant. He pulled on a pair of gloves, and the younger man cringed at the sound of the latex snapping around his brother's wrists. After putting a sterile needle in the tattoo gun, Kankuro gave him a wary look.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"I'm not going to turn down an opportunity to show my beliefs and piss off our Dad." Gaara breathed, trying to mask the shaking in his voice. The gun was turned on, the buzzing started, and the needle made it's first puncture in Gaara's forehead. He tried very hard not to flinch.

"Keep talking to me, it'll distract you from the pain." Kankuro said. Gaara was going to nod in response before realising that movement was a bad idea. "How did you meet Lee?"

"Me and Naruto sat down for lunch before noticing the taijutsu class. Naruto knew Sasuke so introduced me to them."

"And it was love at first sight?"

"I don't know what it was."

"But you must have been attracted to him, at least."

"Of course I was. He was wearing a sports vest."

Kankuro chuckled and continued to draw the outline of the kanji. "And what about your first date?"

"We went to an art gallery and I talked him through some Pre-Raphaelite artwork. I'm surprised he wasn't bored out of his mind."

"Did he find out about your crush on Da Vinci?"

"Yeah, I think it weirded him out a little." Gaara smiled.

"What did you do afterwards?"

"He took me to Chinatown and we ate street food and watched all the lights. Then he carried me home because I was too tired to walk."

"And you didn't even kiss him afterwards?"

"We kissed for the first time after the championships. In Sasuke's treehouse. I was... a little drunk."

"Wow, Gaara, aren't you wild?" Kankuro teased sarcastically.

"Shut up. It was really nice, though. The girls were putting flowers in everyone's hair."

"Do you hang out with the girls often?"

"Mainly Ino. She's nice."

"What's she like?"

"I think a lot of people are wary of her because she's a little materialistic and she smokes, and her boyfriend's an asshole." The redhead frowned. "But she's so open-minded. And she's been through all sorts of shit."

"It's always the genuine people that have put up with great pain." Kankuro said, filling in the tattoo.

"Dad's been through great pain, and he's not genuine."

"That's because he causes great pain too."

The two went quiet at that comment, and Gaara began to sing songs in his head as a replacement distraction. Kiba and Lee were talking lowly from across the room, and he wondered what they could be talking about; Kiba was definitely not one to be described as serious.

He ate a whole pack of turkey bacon, after all.

Kankuro cleaned the outline with a sterile wipe and switched to a thicker needle. He shaded in with the colour red while Gaara plugged in his headphones and blasted some intense kpop songs that Naruto had introduced him to. He'd given up snooping on his boyfriend's conversation, and the heavy beat was enough to make him ignore his surroundings. Finally, the jabbing had stopped, and his forehead was cleaned again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm wiping the blood off."

"Oh." Gaara could feel himself paling.

Blood freaked him out. Especially when it was his own.

"It's okay, little bro, it's all gone. Do you want to see it before I wrap it up?"

"Yes, please."

Kankuro passed a mirror into Gaara's trembling fingers, and he examined his left temple. The area of skin was pink and irritated, and still stung from the needles - the tattoo itself was a red that matched his scarlet hair. It was neatly drawn, almost cursive, he would even go as far to call it dainty; it was small enough that it could be covered with his fringe if needed, but bold enough to make a statement. The Japanese kanji, ai: love.

The love that Lee gives when he kisses his forehead. The love from his brother's own sketch. The love that his father refused to give him. The love he wanted to be equal for all.

"You're crying, Gaara."

"Shit - again?" He wheezed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his arm. "The amount of times I've cried the past couple of months is fucking embarrassing."

"It's good, though, because it means the tattoo is valuable to you."

"Yeah. And it hurt."

His brother laughed as he wrapped his forehead in a thick bandage to keep the tattoo covered. "Keep this on for around five hours, then take it off so you can gently wash it. From then on, apply an ointment and keep it moisturised. It'll take around three weeks for it to heal, and it'll scab - so don't pick or scratch it, or I will find and kill you."

"Thanks." Gaara mumbled.

"You're welcome. Now get your ass up, we're gonna go order pizza."

 

* * *

 

Kankuro and Kiba had left a mattress on the living room floor for the couple to sleep on, and Gaara was just about to return from the bathroom. He'd unwrapped the bandage and washed his tattoo as Kankuro had instructed, before applying a thin layer of ointment to the tender skin. After changing into a pair of oversized pyjamas, he returned to the living room where Lee was already tucked into bed, nose pressed into a tattered copy of a Spiderman comic. While he was engrossed in his reading (Gaara wondered if it was technically possible to read pictures), the redhead slipped under the blankets beside him and slid his pale arms round Lee's torso. His boyfriend didn't look up from the comic, but smiled, and ran his fingers through Gaara's hair.

"Hello." He whispered, and Gaara could have crumbled into little pieces. Little, bite-sized, blushing pieces. The younger man hummed with pleasure as Lee circled his fingertips over his scalp, purring with each caress.

"That feels nice..."

"You like getting your hair played with?"

"Temari - she used to stroke my hair when I had nightmares as a kid. It makes me feel safe."

Frowning, Lee put his comicbook down. "Do you still get nightmares?"

Gaara paused to think. Then, he nodded. "Yeah. I don't get my hair played with anymore, though."

"I have nightmares, too. Not all the time, but they come back when I'm feeling sad." He pressed a kiss to the top of Gaara's head. "I find the best medicine for bad dreams is two things - talking and company."

"What are your nightmares about?" Gaara asked, softly. Lee was silent for a long time.

"Headlights."

"Your parents?"

"Yeah. The crash." Lee cleared his throat, smiling awkwardly. "It's actually the reason I don't like to drive. The idea of losing my life is bad, but ending up responsible for hurting other people is worse. The scariest, though, is that if I ever have a crash, what if someone I'm close to is in the car with me?" He squeezed Gaara close, resting his chin atop his head. "I couldn't ever drive you anywhere. It would scare me too much."

Gaara nuzzled into the crook of Lee's neck, his fingers grasping the neckline of his pyjama shirt. He felt an overwhelming warmth that his boyfriend was opening up to him; it was also scary, though, that Gaara was being so trusted. "I don't mind chaperoning you everywhere, if you're scared of driving."

Lee gave him a grateful kiss on the back of his hand. "That's very kind of you, Gaara. Now, if you're comfortable, I'd  
like to hear about your bad dreams."

"Mine are a little less recurring and more numerous."

"I've got all night."

"Okay..." Gaara shifted in Lee's embrace. "Um, before I start, is it okay if you hold me a little tighter? It's just - uh - I don't want you to witness any kind of panic attack."

Lee's expression softened, and he pulled Gaara closer by the arms. He hooked their legs together into a tangle and pressed the smaller man to his chest, one arm wrapped sturdily round his waist and the other remaining in his hair. "Is this good?"

Gaara nodded against Lee's neck, moving his hands to grip his shoulders. "To start, the majority of my nightmares are from when I was very young. The worst part is that they're mainly authentic memories - my sleeping brain made very little of them up. My time as a little kid were the worst years of my Father's life. He was gaining less political support after spending more time with his family, Suna was in mayhem, and his wife was taken away from him during my birth. I don't blame him for being so angry, but he was so... ruthless." He felt Lee nod against his head, so he braved continuing. "He didn't need alcohol or drugs as an excuse to hurt me. I have lots of dreams about bleeding. Bruises and bumps I can handle, but blood really scares the shit out of me. He'd tell me that the reason I needed to bleed was because the blood of my mother was on my hands, and I needed to pay the price for it."

His words were beginning to jumble in his head and his hands were trembling. Lee rubbed his back and hair, soothingly, until Gaara gulped down his anxiety.

"I dream about my mother playing the piano as she bleeds onto the keys. I dream about Temari bleeding after my Dad gets mad at her. I dream about Kankuro bleeding when he was caught with Kiba. I dream about my blood-stained hands, my guilt, my  _sins-_ "

Gaara choked. He gripped onto his boyfriend and clawed at the pyjama shirt, his breath ragged and heavy as Lee shushed him and placed soft kisses along his head, cheeks and nose. When Gaara began to dig his nails into the older man's shoulders, clinging for dear life, Lee yanked him up to the same level and kissed him so intensely that the redhead began to slack his grip. He grabbed the taller man's face with both hands and pressed against him in desperation, Lee's lips locked against his, releasing shaking inhales and exhales when they parted.

"Please - stay with me." Gaara breathed.

"Always, Gaara. I promise." Lee said, and proved his vow by kissing the burning tattoo on the left side of his forehead.


	10. Week Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara and Lee return from Kankuro’s house so they can stay together at Lee’s apartment. Tension rises when Neji makes an appearance, and as a political move, Gaara decides to make an Instagram account.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very very sorry for the wait. Thank you all for being so patient.
> 
> I would love to finish this fanfiction before I go to university; unfortunately, I can’t promise regular updates until my final exams are over.
> 
> I am also thinking of going back over previous chapters and editing some places where Gaara and Lee seem out of character. My writing has somewhat matured, after all-

As the month of November crept in, Gaara spent the next few days on the down-low.

They had stayed at Kankuro's a couple days longer, to gather some sort of practical arrangement before university howled for their return. The four stayed up to watch the evening news every night at eight o'clock - needless to say, the media was unwilling to release Gaara from the headlines.

"It's like you're some sort of celebrity. You're surrounded by gossip." Kiba had mused one night.

"It's not gossip." Kankuro replied grimly. "It's politics."

It was always the same story: Gaara no Sabaku, son and heir to the mayor of Suna, was spotted at the first round of the taijutsu championships, swarmed by 'bold' and 'strange-looking' young adults who supposedly were his friends. Every time it was told the plot was manipulated a tiny bit more. Gaara ended up going from 'being hugged by his friends' to 'engaging in a queer, ritualistic embrace that was part of either a current trend or a satanic practice'. Gaara thought the 'satanic practice' was rather amusing. Lee did not.

The ending was exactly the same, too, even across different media companies and brands. 'The mayor has yet to comment on his son's behaviour. His sister, even with contact attempts, also has yet to comment.'

Temari was going to kill him.

She had texted him a day previously, a message that was both reassuring and nerve-wracking: 'Father is watching me. Don't text me back. I'm okay. Stay out of trouble.' He wanted to call her to make sure she was okay, but begrudgingly accepted her instructions. It was his fault they were in this mess, after all - he just hoped she wasn't getting into trouble.

Lee was quick to offer a safe haven at his apartment, and the drive back went swifter than expected.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

Gaara tilted his head at Lee as they pulled up by his house. "What's up?"

"So... because you're basically in the public eye now..." He pressed his lips together, large eyebrows furrowed. "Do we have to act, I don't know, more secretive?"

When Gaara gave him a confused expression, Lee swivelled round in the car seat to face him.

"I mean do I have to keep the PDA to a minimum? Stop kissing you after lessons and such-"

The redhead blinked. "But I like it when you kiss me."

Lee went pink at that. "You'll only get into more trouble if your Dad finds you - I don't want you to get hurt again."

"Well then," Gaara started, leaning over to rest his forehead against Lee's, "we'll just have to protect each other."

"I'll always protect you - even when you don't want me anymore!" Lee grinned at him and exited the car, circling round so he could hold the door open for his boyfriend. Rolling his eyes, Gaara hopped out.

"I'll never stop wanting you."

"Then you can keep having me, yeah?" He smiled brightly, laced their fingers together, and led him inside the apartment. The hall was painted white and very clean-looking; albeit with an interesting collection of decor. Pictures of him and his friends, dinosaur stickers, house plants in bright pots.

It was really cute.

He wandered over to the wall and stood on the tips of his toes, giving himself a couple of inches more height to look at all the photos. There was one of Tenten and Lee as toddlers, maybe two or three years old, sat in a blow-up paddling pool, rosy-cheeked with toothless smiles. Lee noticed him looking and stood beside him, pointing at the photos.

"Tenten and I have known each other since we were really little. Our parents were good friends." He followed Gaara's gaze to the next picture, featuring Lee, Tenten and Neji in matching white uniforms, bokken at their sides. Even with the professional air to the image, Lee still looked a little silly with his goofy determination. "That was the taijutsu club at Konoha High - they were good days. A well-spent youth, if I do say so myself!"

Gaara shook his head, smiling a little, until he came across a photo that surprised him. It was a picture of himself after the taijutsu championships, the lotus flower in his hair. He had a sort of dazed, content expression - not smiling, but looking downward in a state of relaxed thought. Lee circled his foot on the floor sheepishly.

"I like that picture of you a lot." He said softly. "Tenten took it and sent it to me. I put it up before we went to go see Kankuro."

"... I look drunk."

"That's because you were. A little bit, at least. I'd like to keep it up though, if that's okay with you? You look really pretty in this photo."

Pressing his lips together, Gaara nodded. There were no pictures of him in his own house - a lot of his mother and father, a couple of Temari and her fiancé. None of Gaara. None of Kankuro, either. It felt strange knowing that he had impacted Lee in a way that made him want to hang a photo of him in his hall - it seemed like something a husband would do for his spouse. The thought made Gaara tremble a little, so he continued to scan over the photos.

Their eyes met on the picture in the centre, framed with a white border. It was small, a little faded - but the couple in the picture shone through. Gaara glanced briefly over at Lee's melancholy expression.

"Your parents?"

"Yes." He said softly.

His mother, Italian, was olive-skinned with deep brown eyes and a mass of curly hair. Her eyebrows were thick and unruly: Lee must have got them from her, he thought with a smile. His father looked a little less wild than her, though happy nonetheless, sporting a toothy grin with his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Her mouth was open and her eyes squeezed shut; mid-laughter. His Dad must have been funny, just like Lee.

Gaara squeezed Lee's hand reassuringly when he released a sniffle. He wiped his eyes with the back of his free hand. "Sorry. I miss them."

"I know."

He began to tug Lee by the hand, leading him backwards until Gaara's back was against the wall. Following suit, Lee rested a hand by his shoulder as Gaara slid his arms round his neck. "They'd be so proud of you." He breathed against the older man's lips, then kissed him. Lees hands slid to his waist, pulling their hips a little closer, pressing him a little firmer against the wall.

The doorbell rang. Lee pulled back.

"I should get that." He said sheepishly.

A frown tugged on the corners of Gaara's mouth and he gave his boyfriend a clear look of frustration; a look that said get back here now. Lee just gave him an apologetic shrug and a sweet smile before making his way to the door - a whiz of scarlet passed him and suddenly Gaara was in the way. The martial arts student squinted at him, tilted his head.

"Gaara, I have to get to the door."

"No you don't."

Lee furrowed his eyebrows. The doorbell rung for the second time, followed by a knock.

"Lee? It's Neji." His voice came through the door, slightly muffled but still smooth and low - Lee's eyes widened. "Look, Tenten's not here... it's just me. Can I come in?"

Gaara gritted his teeth together, hoping that maybe Neji would give up and leave. Lee's dark irises darted from his boyfriend to the doorknob, back and forth several times. Gaara decided to take a bit of initiative, maybe to knock Neji off his high horse.

He wasn't being jealous.

He was being a little bit jealous.

Deciding to mimic Ino's sexy body language™, Gaara slid his jacket off his shoulders. He made direct eye contact with his boyfriend, willing him to watch him instead of the door, and bit down on his lower lip.

"Lee," he started, "please."

A stain of red was creeping up Lee's neck towards his face. He looked uncertainly back at the door. "I don't think we should-"

"Are you going to stop me?" Gaara took the hem of Lee's shirt and lifted it, starting to trace the tips of his nails against his stomach. This was one of Lee's favourite t-shirts, a gift from the Konoha martial arts team: it was his signature green colour, with R. Lee printed across the back in a typical sports-jersey fashion. Gaara also liked the shirt - but maybe on the floor rather than on his boyfriend's body. In unison, their breaths went raspy. "It's been a dramatic few days. There's been a lot of stress." Lee allowed him to pull the t-shirt off over his shoulders. He was beginning to reciprocate, stroking the smaller man's sides. "I need you. I need this."

It seemed that Lee needed it too, because he was quick to grab Gaara by the thighs and hoist him up against the door, urging kisses against his neck and collarbones. Gaara released a long breath, and Lee's teeth grazing against his throat caused him to slam his head back against the door on impulse, exposing more skin for his boyfriend to ravish. Lee left blurs of red against white flesh - Gaara enjoyed the way it felt to be marked. He liked bringing the more dominant side of Lee out. He also liked the victorious confidence it gave him to make out with his boyfriend against the door that Neji was stood behind.

"Lee," Neji said, louder this time with another forceful knock, "I know you're in there, I saw you pass the window a minute ago."

Against the body of his boyfriend, Lee paused, breathing heavily. Gaara was growing more bitter over the interruption.

"Let me in. Please?"

Lee sighed through his nose and gave Gaara an apologetic gaze. Begrudgingly, the redhead pressed a kiss to his boyfriend's cheek and let him drop him.

"Fine."

"I'll make it up to you~" Lee gave him a chirpy grin and pulled his shirt back on, going towards the door and opening it. Gaara folded his arms and watched as Neji stood in the porch, eyes on his boyfriend. Hopefully, this would be over quickly.

"Lee."

"Hi, Neji." Lee responded, still finding the enthusiasm to smile at his ex-lover. "You wanted to see me? Come in if you want!"

"Thank you."

He stepped inside, almost desperately. For someone normally so calm and composed, Neji seemed pretty on edge.

"I needed to see you, I-" He walked over to Lee and stood before him; eyes locked at the same height. "I know I hurt you. But I need to talk about us, right now."

Lee's face fell. "Neji-"

"Look, Shikamaru and I broke up, okay? He didn't feel comfortable knowing that I cheated. He felt guilty. But now we're not together anymore, I knew I should apologise-"

"I accept your apology. I forgive you, Neji, it's okay." Lee pressed, attempting to stop the conversation there.

Gaara remained in the background, baffled: first because Neji hadn't even noticed him yet, and then the fact that Neji, Neji, was acting recklessly and putting his heart above reason.

"Lee- Lee- I took you for granted and I've realised now that I need us to-"

"Neji..." Lee said softly. "Gaara's here."

Neji's eyes darted to Gaara, who tried to avoid eye contact with the taller man. The younger man felt a little defeated in his presence, gesturing to the kitchen. "I can go."

"No - stay." Lee stretched his arm out towards his boyfriend, presenting him with his hand. Gaara glanced at Neji before taking it, stepping to Lee's side. Neji gave their intertwined fingers a sour stare before looking the redhead up and down; his eyes lingered on the hickeys on his neck.

With a deep breath, Lee continued.

"Neji, I am very grateful that you apologised to me. I am also very grateful for the wonderful times we had together." He was smiling genuinely, but looked a little in pain. "But I am afraid I'm not as weak as I was. Gaara - he - he makes me feel strong. I am happy with him. I'd really like it if you could be happy for me."

There was a long pause.

Apparently, Neji had missed the memo that they were together.

He narrowed his eyes at the little redhead, the tips of his ears tinging with pink in obvious anger. Gaara met his eye contact steadily, swelling with confidence from his boyfriend's assuring speech. Neji released a deep breath through his nose.

"You do realise," He started, "how dangerous it is being with him. He's all over the press. His father is a psychopath - how can you be sure he isn't, too?"

Lee's eyes widened. "That's-"

"To be in a gay relationship with the son of a man who wants it outlawed is a death sentence, Lee. Everything you've worked for - he could eradicate it in seconds!"

"I won't let that happen." Gaara said.

"How can you promise him safety? Your father would target him, hurt him!"

"Not while I breathe."

"You make such loose promises." Neji hissed, stepping closer to him. The talker man towered over him. "You've already been made responsible for the death of your mother. Do you seriously want to be responsible for Lee's?"

"Neji." Lee interjected, and the Hyūga was quick to look at him, willing him to agree. The dark-haired man was staring at the floor, his hand clutching Gaara's, eyes slowly filling with tears. "That's an awful thing to say about Gaara. Please," he brought his boyfriend closer by wrapping an arm around his waist, pressing him to his side protectively, "get out of my house."

Neji stared at him. A wave of regret passed over his face; he swallowed thickly. "Lee..."

"Close the door on your way out." He added, sad eyes boring into his ex-lover's. Neji glanced back and forth between the couple; this was likely a conclusion he had not expected. After a raspy breath out of flared nostrils, Neji flung his chin up and turned on his heel, hands clenched into fists as he marched towards the door.

He glanced back one more time.

"You'd better treat him well, future mayor." He growled. "If I were you, I wouldn't let him slip through my fingers." He turned the knob and exited quickly. The door slammed shut behind him.

There was a moment of silence as the couple watched the door, worried that the man might try to make a return. After gripping Lee's hand tighter, Gaara realised he was shaking, his breathing hitched - these reactions were common when his mother was mentioned. Lee quickly took initiative and led Gaara into the adjacent room.

The redhead took a moment to examine the room: deep green bed covers and white walls, posters of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and an accumulation of cacti on the windowsill. Gaara perched on the end of Lee's bed, inhaling the scent of lemon and pine - the smell of Lee. His boyfriend sat next to him, pulled him close to his chest.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry he said those awful things... Neji can get aggressive when he knows he's losing."

"I'm fine." He replied, running a hand up the taller man's back, a tense feeling still knotted in his stomach. "You didn't need to stand up for me." Gaara continued.

"You didn't need to stand up for me, either. But we did, because we want to protect each other." Lee gave him a wobbly smile and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Sorry, I'm so emotional!"

"Don't cry." Gaara said, a little pathetically. Emotions were still a bit difficult for him to read and understand. "It was me he insulted, not you, there's no need to be sad."

"I'm sad because you're a wonderful guy, Gaara." He embraced the younger man tighter, pressing a kiss to the tattoo on his temple. "You deserve to be liked and respected, by everyone. Which is why you'll make a fantastic mayor of Suna!"

The redhead felt himself grow warm at the compliment. It was reassuring to know that his boyfriend had faith in his aspiration - nobody had ever truly believed in him before. After a while of enjoying Lee's hands caress his waist, he looked up to meet his eyes. He felt a change in subject was in order.

"How would you feel about me getting Instagram?"

A look of confusion passed over his boyfriend's face. "Ah- you can do whatever you want, Gaara! But... where did that come from?"

"I was thinking of pushing my case a little more, try to get some support from social minorities and the younger generation as a whole. If I show people that I'm different from my father, I'll get support from the right people."

"That sounds like a good idea! Your father has pushed aside equality for so long, I'm sure many people are desperate for change!" His boyfriend frowned a little. "I'm afraid I'm not very good with politics, so I'm not sure how Instagram is supposed to help with that."

"It's publicity." Gaara explained patiently, curling his fingers through Lee's dark hair. "With all the attention I've been getting from the media recently, I was becoming worried that people were viewing me as more of a celebrity than a politician... But I thought I could make some use out of it. If I get popular on social media, that immediately gives me the younger generation's support."

"I could help, if you want!" Lee beamed down at him. "I could take pictures of you? Be your personal paparazzi bodyguard?" He put on a stern expression, eyebrows furrowed, voice deepened, and attempted to sound threatening. "Put the camera down, sir, and step away from Sabaku no Gaara!"

The redhead rolled his eyes, though couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Are you sure you're okay with all of this? You'll probably have the media's attention as well, and I don't want to cause you any stress."

"I'd like to be able to show the world how lovable you are, Gaara. And how lucky I am to be with you!" He pressed a kiss to his forehead and untangled their limbs, standing up at the end of the bed. He pulled his sports shirt off, folded it, and placed it carefully on top of the duvet. "You set up an account, then! I'm gonna stop by the dojo and train some more for the championships, if that's okay with you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Gaara eyed his boyfriend's bare chest. "Because I can't watch."

Lee grinned. "I wasn't planning on keeping my shirt off, Gaara." He pulled on his dobok and wrapped the taijutsu belt around his waist.

"Bummer."

Lee laughed and kissed his cheek. "I'll be back in a couple hours. Here's to a worthy exercise-filled day!" He grabbed his sports bag from the corner of his room and swung it over his shoulder, stopping by the door to blow his boyfriend a kiss. Gaara shook his head, smiling, and started to download Instagram. If he was going to upload a show-stopping first photo, he was going to need a little advice.

He made a quick call while the app was loading. The ringing stopped as his best friend picked up the phone.

"Hello my love~" Ino cooed from the other line. "How are you?"

"Ino, I got Instagram. I need an attention-grabbing first picture to publicly come out."

There was a pause. "... Are you at Lee's?"

"Yes."

"I'm on my way."

 

  
***

 

Ino practically rammed the door open, scaring the life out of Gaara in the process. She bolted over to him and grabbed him by the hands, jumping up and down and squealing.

"I can't wait to teach you how to be an Instagram model!"

Gaara looked up at her, baffled. "What does modelling have to do with this?"

Ino tutted and pouted at him. "Awe, c'mon, babe! If you want attention you might as well look hot." She rested her chin in her hand and looked at him, narrowing her eyes in thought. "Now if you're gonna publicly come out on social media, it has to be visually... What if we put you in a male stripclub?!"

Gaara shook his head rapidly. "Uh - no."

"People would get the message immediately." She sung.

"You only suggested that because you want to go to a male strip club."

"Touché." She glanced over his shoulder at Lee's shirt lain across the bed. "Cute shirt. Lee's?"

"Yeah, the taijutsu team got it for him. It has his name on the back." Gaara returned his gaze to his phone and continued to set up his account. Ino made a long, 'hm' sound.

Then she snapped her fingers. She snatched the jersey, removing it from the tidy state Lee left it in. She threw it at his chest.

"Put it on."

"What?"

"It has your boyfriend's name on the back! People will get it immediately!" She pushed him into a standing position and steered him towards the bathroom by the shoulders. "Put that shirt on your cute tiny body!"

"Okay, okay-" He shut the door behind him and looked over the tee. Ino knocked loudly.

"Without anything underneath!" She added, and Gaara flushed a deep red.

"You want the internet to see my crotch?!"

"Kim Kardashian did it." She giggled from outside the bathroom. "Make a sex tape with Lee and you'll be able to start a reality show."

"Fuck off." He grumbled, and started to shed off his clothes (keeping his underwear on, thank you very much.) He pulled on Lee's shirt and let it fall over his hips; the hem reached halfway down his thighs. Then, he took a second to smooth out the soft fabric and straighten out any wrinkles. He lifted it by the collar and inhaled Lee's scent: it felt a little creepy to do, but couldn't help that his boyfriend's deodorant smelled so good.

When he left the bathroom, Ino stared at him up and down with an amazed expression. "How do you have a body better than me?"

Gaara furrowed his non-existent brows. "What?"

"I'm up to, like, a hundred squats a day. What the fuck do you do to get your lower body to look that good?"

"I-"

"You know, you're built kind of like a woman." When Gaara frowned, she laughed at him. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with that at all! You've got really good fat distribution - maybe it's genetics. Your sister's got good hips, too."

"My hips-?"

Ino crouched down and examined his thighs. "Do you shave your legs?" She ran a finger up his pale skin and Gaara shivered violently, shooting her a glare.

"No."

"That's not fair! You're practically silky!" She looked up at him and wiggled her eyebrows. "Are you hairless everywhere?"

"Stop talking."

"Ugh. Fine." She held out her hand. "Phone."

He entrusted his phone into his best friend's grip and allowed her to direct him like a photographer. Gaara ended up kneeling down at the foot of the bed, facing away from Ino, with the sleeve of Lee's shirt tumbling off his shoulder. He felt a little embarrassed at the position he was in and gripped the duvet in between his legs.

"You look so good! People are going to love this!" Ino lifted the phone up to get a good angle, taking advantage of the natural light spilling through the window. "Now, honey, shift round a little bit. Not too much so we can still see Lee's name, but enough so we can see a little of your face." Gaara obliged, angling his body a little more to the left. He could sense Ino beaming at him.

"You're beautiful, Gaara. I hope you know that."

Gaara flushed at the compliment, turning his head to offer her a small smile. Pride swelled on her face for a moment before she readjusted herself. "Okay, ready?"

"I guess so?"

He tried very hard to stay still, and listened closely to her instructions.

"Point your toes out."

He pointed his toes out.

"Look down a little more."

He looked down a little more.

"Arch your back and stick your butt out!"

He arched his back and-

"Ino."

"If you've got it, flaunt it~" Was all she said in response. Gaara sighed, and followed direction.

After a painfully long time of taking pictures, Ino finally finished. "Okay, I've decided which one's the best. I'm gonna upload it to your Instagram!"

"Wait, you're not gonna show me first?" He lept up from the bed and sped over to her. "Let me see first."

"... Oops." She gave him a sheepish smile. Gaara's eyes widened and grabbed her wrist so he could look at the photo - already uploaded. He stared at the image of himself, poised delicately on Lee's bed, his boyfriend's name across his back. He bit his lip.

"You're right. I do have nice hips."

Ino grinned wickedly. "Right?" She proceeded to turn his phone on silent and put it on the bedside table. Gaara blinked.

"What are you doing?"

"If I leave it off silent, your phone will blow up from all the notifications."

"You're sure it'll get attention?" He asked shyly.  
"With your ass? Uh-huh." She patted Gaara on the butt and he rolled his eyes at her. "Come on, let's go sit in the living room. I want to hear all about your new tattoo - I want one too!"

 

***

 

An hour or so later, Ino left to go to a sewing class with a wink and a promise to follow him on Instagram. Gaara decided to lounge on the bed in Lee's shirt, letting himself sink into the mattress and drift in and out of sleep. When he stirred, he picked up his phone to check the time, temporarily forgetting about the photo he uploaded to Instagram.

His notifications were blowing up by the thousand. His eyes widened - he quickly unlocked his phone and opened the app, staring in shock at the mass amount of likes and comments. His followers were creeping up to a million after a mere few hours since his accounts creation: among the followers were all of his friends, who were already commenting vigorously on the post. In the midst of his shock, he managed to notice the door click open and shut. His boyfriend entered the room.

"I saw the photo." He said.

"Oh. Uh..." He pressed his lips together. "Did you-?"

"You're still in my shirt?"

"Yes."

"Good." He took Gaara by the wrists and pinned him down against the bed, scattering kisses over his exposed collarbone. "I want you in it as much as possible."

Gaara's chuckle was interrupted by a bite on his shoulder. His breath hitched.

He was going to start reading the comments, but that could wait.

 

 

 


End file.
